ANNUAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 


AMERICAN  COMMITTEE 


DEVASTATED  FRANCE 

Incorporated 


YEAR  ENDING 
MARCH  31,  1920 


ANNUAL  REPORT 


OF  THE 

AMERICAN  COMMITTEE 

-  FOR  - 

DEVASTATED  FRANCE 

Incorporated 


YEAR  ENDING 
MARCH  31,  1920 


American  Headquarters 
16  East  39  th  Street 
NEW  YORK 


French  Headquarters 
15  Boulevard  Lannes 
PARIS 


American  Committee  for  Devastated  France 


Officers 


Hon.  President,  Monsieur  Andre  Tardieu 
President  -  The  Hon.  Myron  T.  Herrick 
1st  Vice-Pres.  -  -  Miss  Anne  Morgan 
2nd  Vice-Pres.  Miss  Mary  Lincoln  Aldrich 
3rd  Vice-Pres.  -  Miss  Maude  Wetmore 


4th  Vice-Pres.  -  Miss  Elizabeth  Perkins 
Secretary  -  Miss  Elizabeth  Scarborough 
2nd  Secretary  -  Mrs.  Gilbert  Montague 
Treasurer  -  Dr.  Alexander  C.  Humphreys 
Asst.  Treas.  -  Miss  Miriam  P.  Blagden 


Executive  Committee 

Chairman  -  -  -  -  Miss  Anne  Morgan 

Vice-Chairman,  Miss  Mary  Lincoln  Aldrich 
Mr.  Edward  Dean  Adams  Miss  Elizabeth  Perkins 

Dr.  Alexander  C.  Humphreys  Mr.  Philip  Ashton  Rollins 

Miss  May  Taylor  Moulton  Miss  Elizabeth  Scarborough 

M  iss  Maude  Wetmore 


Organization  in  France 

Commissioner  -  -  -  Mrs.  A.  M.  Dike  Treasurer  -  Mr.  John  Ridgeley  Carter 
1st  Vice-Pres.  -  -  Miss  Anne  Morgan  Asst.  Treas.  -  -  Miss  Emily  Hedden 


Mr.  Edward  Dean  Adams 

Mr.  Chester  H.  Aldrich 

Miss  Mary  Lincoln  Aldrich 

Hon.  Henry  J.  Allen 

Mrs.  Ogden  Armour 

Mrs.  John  Kendrick  Bangs 

Mrs.  J.  F.  Binnie 

Miss  Rebecca  A.  Caldwell 

Mrs.  Elihu  Chauncey 

Mr.  Paul  D.  Cravath 

Miss  Louise  Dawson 

Mrs.  A.  M.  Dike 

Dr.  John  H.  Finley 

Cardinal  Gibbons 

Miss  Gabrielle  N.  Gourd 

Dr.  Alexander  C.  Humphreys 

Hon.  Myron  T.  Herrick 

Mr.  Otto  H.  Kahn 

Mrs.  Robert  W.  Lovett 

Miss  Anne  Morgan 

Chairman  of  Publicity 

Director  Overseas  Personnel 

Chairman  Executive  Council 

Funds  Deposited  With 

Columbia  Trust  Company,  N.  Y. 

Empire  Trust  Company,  N.  Y. 

Morgan,  Harjes  &  Co.,  Paris 


Directors 

Miss  May  Taylor  Moulton 
Mr.  Charles  Lathrop  Pack 
Miss  Margaret  Parsons 
Mrs.  Lindsay  Patterson 
Mr.  George  Wharton  Pepper  . 

Miss  Elizabeth  Perkins 
Mrs.  Thomas  Jex  Preston 
Mr.  William  Cooper  Proctor 
Mr.  Philip  Ashton  Rollins 
Miss  Elizabeth  Scarborough 
Mrs.  Cornelius  Stevenson 
Mrs.  Lewis  Buckley  Stillwell 
Mr.  Louis  E.  Stoddard 
Mr.  Henry  W.  Taft 
Mrs.  Nathaniel  Thaver 

4 / 

Miss  Maude  Wetmore 
Mrs.  Henry  Devereux  Whiton 
Mr.  Frederick  S.  Whitwell 
Col.  Arthur  Woods 

Miss  Elizabeth  Perkins 

-  Miss  R.  A.  Caldwell 

-  Mrs.  Elihu  Chauncey 

Accounts  Audited  By 

Barrow,  Wade,  Guthrie  &  Co.,  N.  Y. 
Bank  of  France,  Paris 
Price,  Waterhouse  &  Company,  Paris 


The  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  is  a  corporation  chartered  under 

the  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York. 


AMERICAN  COMMITTEE 
FOR  DEVASTATED  FRANCE,  Inc. 

REPORT  OF  THE  PRESIDENT 

April,  1919  — April,  1920 


4  LTHOL'GH  the  fiscal  year  ending  March  31,  1920,  has  been  a  time  of 
-TY  much  financial  unrest,  fortunately  the  interests  of  the  American 
Committee  for  Devastated  France  have  not  suffered.  On  the  contrary, 
the  importance  of  the  work  has  become  more  widely  recognized,  and  in  con¬ 
sequence  receipts  have  been  nearly  two  hundred  thousand  dollars  more  than 
during  the  preceding  twelve  months,  d  he  scope  of  the  work  has  broadened 
and  developed  most  satisfactorily. 

M.  Andre  Tardieu,  Honorary  President 

In  no  way  has  the  recognition  of  the  work  accomplished  by  the  Ameri¬ 
can  Committee  for  Devastated  France  been  more  strikingly  shown  than  by 
the  consent  of  Monsieur  Andre  Tardieu  to  become  Honorary  President  of 
the  organization.  Monsieur  Tardieu  is,  perhaps,  better  known  to  the  Ameri¬ 
can  public  than  almost  any  other  French  official  and  the  positions  which  he 
has  held  not  only  in  this  country  but  in  France,  as  Minister  of  the  Liberated 
Regions  and  as  a  member  of  the  Peace  Commission,  make  his  co-operation 
and  approval  of  our  Committee’s  activities  in  France  particularly  valuable. 

Resignation  of  Mrs.  Stillwell 

Mrs.  Lewis  Buckley  Stillwell,  to  whose  devotion  and  ability  the  Com¬ 
mittee  has  been  so  deeply  indebted  since  its  organization,  tendered  her  resig¬ 
nation  as  Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  on  November  15,  1919. 

As  the  Board  of  Directors  realized  that  the  state  of  Mrs.  Stillwell’s 
health  made  it  imperative  for  her  to  take  a  complete  rest  from  all  official 
duties,  they  regretfully  accepted  her  resignation,  in  the  hope  that  her  with¬ 
drawal  from  active  work  in  the  organization  would  be  only  temporary. 

Miss  Anne  Morgan,  1st  Vice-President  of  the  organization,  was  elected 
Chairman  of  the  Executive  Committee  to  succeed  Mrs.  Stillwell. 

Executive  Council 

The  formation  of  an  Executive  Council  to  assist  in  the  advancement  of 
the  work  of  the  Committee  is  one  of  the  most  important  features  of  the 
year’s  activities.  Credit  for  the  successful  development  of  the  work  of  the 
organization  during  the  past  six  months  is  largely  due  to  the  able  and  en- 

3 


thusiastic  co-operation  of  the  members  of  the  Executive  Council.  This 
Council,  of  which  Mrs.  Elihu  Chauncey  is  Chairman  and  Miss  Ruth  Adams  ■ 
Secretary,  is  composed  of  the  following  committees: 


Agricultural  School  .  .  .  . 

Children’s  Colony  . 

Child  Hygiene  . 

Free  Milk . 

Gouters . 

Children’s  Libraries . 

Kindergartens . .  . 

Overseas  Personnel . 

Workshops  in  France  .  .  .  . 

Exhibitions  and  Sales  .  .  .  . 

Membership  and  Lectures  .  . 

Special  Cases . 

Hundred  Clubs . 

Shipping . 

Recording  and  Packing  .  .  . 

Purchasing . 

Lunch  Room . . 

Work  Room  ....... 


Miss  Grace  Tabor,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Cass  Gilbert,  Chairman 
Mrs.  B.  T.  Tilton,  Chairman 
Mrs.  J.  W.  McBurney,  Chairman 
Miss  Ruth  Adams,  Chairman 
Miss  Alice  Parsons,  Chairman. 

Miss  Fanniebelle  Curtis,  Chairman 
Miss  Rebecca  A.  Caldwell,  Chairman 
Miss  Margaret  Parsons,  Chairman 
Mrs.  George  A.  Legg,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Gilbert  Montague,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Valentine  Schuyler,  Chairman 
Mrs.  James  G.  Mumford,  Chairman 
Miss  Gabrielle  N.  Gourd,  Chairman 
Miss  Jean  Simpson,  Chairman 
Miss  Agnes  G.  Troup,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Walter  Kremer,  Chairman 
Mrs.  John  Kendrick  Bangs,  Chairman 
Mrs.  Manton  B.  Metcalf,  Vice-Chairman 


It  is  impossible  to  give  in  a  brief  report  any  adequate  summary  of  the 
valuable  work  accomplished  by  the  Council,  but  a  few  facts  may  be  of 
interest. 


Under  the  direction  of  the  Council  $3,000  was  raised  for  the  children's 
work  through  May  Day  and  Thanksgiving  Day  appeals.  Franco- American 
May  parties  were  held  by  School  Committees  and  groups  of  children  in  the 
United  States,  as  well  as  at  our  Children’s  Colony  in  France,  the  object 
being  to  promote  friendship  and  understanding  between  the  children  of 
America  and  France.  $6,500  and  large  donations  of  powdered  milk  were 
collected  for  the  important  child  hygiene  work  which  the  Committee  is  con¬ 
ducting  in  France.  Money  has  been  raised  toward  the  Gouter  Fund  which 
provides  an  additional  meal  of  biscuits  and  hot  chocolate  for  the  thousands 
of  undernourished  children  in  our  care.  Schools  have  been  equipped  and 
children’s  libraries  established.  Fourteen  thousand  dollars  was  collected 
during  the  year  for  the  Poultry  Fund,  five  incubators  were  installed,  and 
thousands  of  chickens  distributed  among  the  peasant  families.  Workshops 
have  been  established  in  France  where  furniture  for  schools  and  for  houses 
is  made  from  specially  cut  and  prepared  wood  sent  from  America.  Several 
successful  rummage  sales  have  been  held  under  the  direction  of  the  Council 
and  pictures  of  the  Committee’s  work  in  France  have  been  shown  in  shops, 
at  private  houses,  hotels,  churches  and  elsewhere  by  means  of  a  portable 
moving  picture  machine. 

One  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  Council’s  activities  is  that  of  the 
Committee  on  Agriculture,  which  has  formulated  a  plan  for  an  Agricultural 
School  which  the  French  Government  has  requested  the  Committee  to  estab¬ 
lish.  Another  branch  of  the  Agricultural  Committee’s  work  is  the  attempt  to 
assist  in  restoring  the  so-called  condemned  lands  of  France  to  productivity. 
Out  of  the  200,000  acres  in  our  district  there  are  approximately  52,000  acres 
of  “No  Man’s  Land,”  so  hopelessly  devastated  that  the  French  Government 


4 


feared  that  it  might  be  necessary  to  abandon  them  and  to  expatriate  the 
inhabitants.  The  Committee  'secured  the  services  of  an  Agricultural  expert 
whose  especial  study  has  been  the  reclamation  of  abandoned  land.  This 
expert  has  been  sent  to  France  in  order  to  give  his  opinion  as  to  the  extent 
to  which  this  land  can  be  made  productive  and  to  make  constructive  sugges¬ 
tions  with  regard  to  the  most  helpful  course  for  the  Committee  to  pursue 
in  rendering  assistance.  >  ■:  * .  ~ 

The  Shipping  Department  reports  the  following  supplies  shipped  during 
the  year  ending' March  31,  1920:  110,600  articles  of  clothing;  4,368  motor 
accessories;  4  motors;  1  motor  hospital  unit;  460  sewing  machines;  26 
knitting  machines;  400  kitchen  kits;  13,000  lbs.  milk;  8,022  lbs.  of  chicken 
feed;  2,000  lbs.  sugar;  3  looms;  6  brooders;  10  incubators;  4  oil  stoves; 
18,000  glass  jars;  74,694  miscellaneous  articles;  making  a  total  of  231,598 
articles.  Through  the  National  Workroom  3,926  yards  of  flannel,  calico 
and  other  material  were  sent  to  France,  as  well  as  donations  of  money 
amounting  to  $1,750.  1,594  refugee  garments  w'ere  cut,  and  125  costumes 

made  and  sold  through  the  Dressmaking  Department. 

Luncheon,  Tearoom  and  Dressmaking  Department 

In  view  of  changed  conditions  in  France,  a  new  policy  was  adopted  dur¬ 
ing  the  year  in  connection  with  the  shipment  of  clothing  and  other  supplies. 
Our  Committees  and  contributors  were  accordingly  requested  to  gradually 
reduce  their  output  of  garments  and  to  send  us  instead  piece  goods  and 
sewing  materials  in  order  to  give  employment  to  the  women  of  our  districts 
in  France  both  in  their  homes  and  in  the  ouvroirs  established  by  our  Com¬ 
mittee.  Sewing  and  knitting  machines  were  sent  to  France  for  this  purpose, 
as  well  as  looms  for  the  weaving  of  rag  rugs. 

The  space  formerly  given  to  the  receiving,  packing  and  shipping  of 
supplies  is  being  used  for  a  luncheon  and  tea  room  where  an  average  of  one 
hundred  persons  per  day  are  served  by  volunteer  waitresses. 

The  National  Workroom,  previously  devoted  to  the  supplying  of  cut  gar¬ 
ments  and  patterns  for  our  Committees,  has  been  gradually  developed  into 
a  dressmaking  establishment. 

In  view  of  the  success  already  achieved,  the  Committee  has  every  reason 
to  expect  a  satisfactory  revenue  from  these  two  Departments. 


Canning  Unit 

In  conformity  with  a  request  from  the  French  Government  the  Committee 
sent  to  France  in  May,  1919,  a  Home  Canning  Demonstration  Unit  with  the 
purpose  of  demonstrating  American  methods  in  food  conservation.  The 
U.  S.  Secretary  of  Agriculture  co-operated  by  releasing  for  this  enterprise 
three  trained  members  of  the  Department.  The  work  accomplished  by  this 
unit  was  so  successful  that,  in  answer  to  a  renewed  request  from  the  French 
Government,  a  second  unit  will  carry  on  similar  activities  during  the  sum¬ 
mer  of  1920. 


5 


The  Restaurant  and  Tea  Room  of  the  American  Committee,  at  16  East  39th 

Street,  earn  money  for  the  work  in  France 

'  V 


Publicity 

The  Publicity  Department  during  the  year  from  April,  1919  to  1920, 
has  been  more  concerned  with  the  general  Franco- American  situation  than 
with  the  detail  of  the  work  of  the  American  Committee,  as  the  pro-German 
propaganda  spread  in  this  country  affected  very  closely  the  efforts  of  the 
American  Committee  to  raise  funds  and  keep  alive  sympathy  for  France. 
During  the  months  of  June,  July,  August  and  September,  the  prin¬ 
cipal  work  of  the  Publicity  Committee  was  to  disseminate  the  knowledge  of 
the  fuel  scarcity  in  France  and  to  beg  for  knitted  garments  to  offset  the 
coal-less  situation  and  consequent  suffering  during  the  coming  winter.  The 
result  of  distributing  posters  through  the  channels  of  our  committees  and 
in  all  possible  public  places  was  the  return  of  29,627  knitted  garments 
valued  (by  Red  Cross  standards)  at  $50,628. 

The  Christmas  appeal  for  the  children  in  the  area  under  our  supervision, 
sent  to  about  five  thousand  A.  E.  F.  men  and  our  usual  contributors,  brought 
in  $8,081.53. 

Appeals  were  made  through  the  papers  for  the  children’s  “gouter”  or 
daily  hot  chocolate  and  biscuit.  The  results  are  reported  by  the  Chairman 
of  the  Executive  Council. 


6 


American  Committee  for  Devastated  France,  Inc. 


16  EAST  39th  STREET 
NEW  YORK 


15  ROULEVARD  LANNES 
PARIS 


Paris,  October  20,  1920. 

MISS  ANNE  MORGAN, 

Chairman ,  Executive  Committee , 

American  Committee  for  Devastated  France, 

16  East  39th  Street, 

New  York  City. 

My  dear  Miss  Morgan : 

At  the  Annual  Meeting  in  April,  it  was  my  pleasure  to  submit  to  our  Committee  the  Annual  Report  for 
the  year  ending  April  1,  1920.  In  this  report  we  emphasized  certain  departments  of  our  work  upon  which  we 
intended  to  concentrate  our  efforts  in  order  to  make  of  them  a  permanent  contribution  to  the  reconstruction 
of  devastated  France.  In  this  letter  I  shall  try  to  cover  briefly  the  work  accomplished  along  permanent  con¬ 
struction  lines  for  the  six  months  which  have  elapsed  since  April,  and  to  show  the  developments  which  make  it 
possible  for  us  to  withdraw  from  relief  of  temporary  and  emergency  character. 

The  situation  in  France  today  is  practically  the  same  as  in  April.  German  indemnities  are  not  yet  forth¬ 
coming.  The  morale  of  the  French  nation  is  sounder  than  ever.  The  return  of  the  population  in  the  devas¬ 
tated  area  remains  at  approximately  50  %  to  70%,  this  chiefly  for  the  reason  that  the  French  Government  has 
only  been  able  to  make  advances  of  twenty-five  billion  francs  for  reconstruction.  The  large  part  of  these 
advances  were  made  for  industrial  and  agricultural  reconstruction;  but  no  proviso  has  as  yet  been  made  for 
domestic  reconstruction  and  until  such  advances  can  be  made  there  will  be  very  little  increase  in  our  returning 
population. 

The  sum  required  to  reconstruct  Devastated  France  is  estimated  at  one  hundred  and  fifty  billion  francs. 
Confident  in  the  thrift,  economy  and  tireless  energy  of  the  farmers  and  peasants  to  make  good  the  trust 
which  the  French  Government  reposed  in  them,  the  large  sum  of  twenty-five  billions  has  already  been 
advanced.  The  source  of  this  budget  is  derived  from  France’s  loans  and  taxes. 

The  next  budget  for  the  Devastated  Regions  is  announced.  It  has  been  reduced  to  twelve  billions. 
Special  emphasis  has  been  laid  on  the  necessity  of  advancing  a  percentage  of  war  indemnities  to  those  farmers 
who  wish  to  provide  shelter  for  farm  labor.  This  important  matter  having  been  entirely  overlooked  in  previous 
budgets,  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  next  year  we  shall  see  marked  progress  in  the  reconstruction  of  farm  home¬ 
steads  and  shelter  for  farm  labor.  As  the  Committee’s  work  is  performed  in  a  rural  country,  it  becomes  of 
interest  to  us  to  know  what  steps  the  Government  can  take  to  permit  an  increase  in  the  percentage  of 
population  returning  to  our  region. 

The  farmers  and  peasants  of  France  have  made  a  supreme  effort  this  year  to  reclaim  the  land.  But  the 
difficulty  of  harvesting  has  demonstrated  to  the  Government  the  vital  importance  of  granting  advances 
against  war  indemnities  with  this  compulsory  clause  of  providing  shelter  for  farm  labor  thereto  attached. 

To  give  you  an  idea  of  the  astounding  effort  which  is  daily,  hourly  and  laboriously  achieved  by  the 
farmers  and  peasants,  look  at  the  Canton  of  Soissons !  250,000  acres  of  land  were  laid  waste  and  destroyed 
by  the  war  in  and  around  Soissons.  By  the  20th  of  September,  1920,  already  200,000  acres  had  been  cleared 
of  explosives.  175,000  acres  had  been  levelled  and  cleared  of  barbed  wire  and  war  material;  of  this  amount 
150,000  acres  were  ploughed,  sown  and  harvested — 40,000  in  wheat;  37,000  in  hay;  6,000  in  barley  and  6,000 
in  sugar  beet.  Fifteen  Agricultural  Syndicates  were  formed  and  four  Agricultural  Cooperatives. 

In  passing  through  this  region  to-day,  village  after  village  is  to  be  seen  in  ruins ;  as  a  contrast,  the  eye 
roams  over  beautifully  cultivated  fields  with  hundreds  of  stacks  (or  “Meules”)  of  wheat  outlined  against  the 
devastated  hill-tops.  Here  is  the  effort  of  France — in  her  fields,  her  industries,  her  roads  and  bridges,  the 
twenty-five  billions  have  been  well  spent. 

In  our  last  Quarterly  Report  of  the  Canton  of  Anizy  (which  is  practically  the  “zone  rouge”)  you  will 
see  that  six  months  ago  there  were  only  200  hectares,  or  about  500  acres,  cultivated.  To-day  the  farmers, 
with  the  help  of  our  Tractors,  have  actually  3,752  acres  harvested.  This  shows  great  progress,  but  there  is 
still  much  help  that  we  should  extend  to  these  courageous  farmers  in  this  region.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 
Canton  of  Soissons,  Vic  and  the  lower  section  of  the  Canton  of  Coucy,  so  much  progress  has  been  made  that  we 
shall  be  able  to  withdraw  the  assistance  of  our  Tractors  and  concentrate  them  in  the  spring  of  1921  in  the 
still  devastated,  uncultivated  lands  of  the  upper  Canton  of  Coucy  and  the  Canton  of  Anizy. 

In  appreciation  of  the  effort  already  made  by  the  farmers  in  the  Cantons  of  Coucy  and  Anizy,  and 
having  faith  in  their  splendid  integrity,  the  American  Committee  secured  in  the  French  markets  and  trans- 


ported  to  Coucy  300,000  francs  worth  of  seeds.  This  was  done  at  a  critical  moment,  when  the  Government 
advances  failed  to  appear  in  time  for  the  purchasing  ef  Seeds.  They  were  distributed  on  credit  to  the  different 
Agricultural  Syndicates  in  these  two  Cantons.  From  this  autumn’s  harvest  90%  of  this  money  has  already 
been  repaid. 

The  furnishing  of  live  stock  and  chickens  to  the  Farmers’  Syndicates  and  to  the  individual  farmers 
has  been  equally  successful,  as  you  will  see  from  the  Quarterly  Report.  With  our  chicken  farm  at  Villeneuve 
and  by  the  purchase  of  stock  in  the  open  market,  we  have  been  able  to  supply  fully  all  the  needs  for 
re-stocking  to  capacity  the  farm-yards  of  our  region  under  their  present  condition.  This  next  year  we  will 
shut  down  our  incubating  plant  at  Villeneuve  until  such  time  as  our  farmers  are  ready  to  cooperate  'with  us 
in  the  next  vital  question,  which  is  the  bringing  in  of  pure-bred  fowl  to  replace  those  lost  in  the  war. 

The  demands  for  cows  have  been  filled  in  the  same  way.  But  a  question  of  great  importance  which 
has  recently  been  brought  to  us  and  in  which  the  farmers  have  asked  for  our  cooperation  is  the  purchase  of 
horses.  At  present  the  cultivation  of  the  land  has  been  almost  entirely  done  by  tractors.  Many  of  the  small 
farmers  feel  themselves  now  able  to  assume  the  responsibility  of  cultivating  their  own  farms.  As  their  tracts  are 
too  small  to  make  it  practical  to  own  and  use  a  tractor,  they  are  exceedingly  anxious  to  be  helped  in  the 
matter  of  purchasing  horses. 

The  farmers  have  not  time  to  spend  several  days  in  search  of  farm  animals.  The  American  Committee, 
therefore,  will  make  the  purchase  for  them.  When  a  sufficient  number  of  horses  are  ordered  to  fill  a  car,  the 
Committee  will  be  able  to  secure  transport  at  half  rates  from  the  Ministry  of  the  Regions  Liberees. 

BUILDING  COOPERATIVES 

As  it  has  not  been  possible  for  the  Government  to  make  advances  for  the  reconstruction  of  homes  and 
farms,  the  Building  Cooperatives  of  our  villages  and  towns  have  been  very  much  embarrassed.  The  small 
amount  of  war  indemnities  advanced  to  each  Cooperative  has  not  been  on  a  big  enough  scale  to  encourage  the 
contractor  to  put  up  extensive  plants  and  import  the  amount  of  foreign  labor  which  the  problem  requires. 

Early  this  year  the  Workshop  of  the  American  Committee,  which  had  the  distinctive  advantage  of  being 
already  in  operation,  was  invited  by  the  Building  Cooperative  of  Blerancourt  and  by  the  Cantonal  Commis¬ 
sion  under  the  Government,  to  undertake  the  reparation  of  some  40  houses  in  the  town.  Under  duly  signed 
agreement  this  work  was  undertaken,  for  which  the  Government  to-day  owes  the  Committee  approximately 
400,000  francs  against  which  only  27,000  francs  have  been  paid.  Obviously  this  is  a  bad  business  proposi¬ 
tion,  and  doubtless  the  Committee  will  not  be  fully  repaid  before  1921 ;  but  it  has  the  advantage  of  fortifying 
the  morale  of  the  people  and  making  it  possible  to  insure  proper  housing  for  at  least  40  families,  as  well  as 
giving  the  local  workmen  steady  employment.  In  view  of  the  great  demand  for  the  erecting  of  communal 
shower  baths,  we  now  propose  to  use  our  workmen  and  the  facilities  of  our  workshop  for  this  purpose.  The 
first  year  after  the  Armistice  the  Government  undertook  to  make  emergency  repairs  consisting  of  tar  paper 
for  roofing  and  oil  paper  for  windows.  These  materials  were  given  freely  to  the  people  and  with  no  charge 
against  the  war  indemnities.  But  tar  paper  and  oil  paper  do  not  last  forever.  We  are  facing  the  third 
winter  with  leaking  roofs,  broken  windows,  unrepaired  walls  and  but  little  coal.  After  two  such  years  these 
people  are  loath  to  make  still  further  temporary  repairs  for  which  they  must  pay  from  their  own  indemnities. 
For  certain  indigent  cases  we  intend  to  sell  some  of  our  American  supplies  and  apply  the  proceeds  of  the  same 
to  temporary  repairs  for  this  winter. 

BOULLAY-THIERRY 

The  closing  down  of  Boullay-Thierry  as  a  Colony  for  children,  where  they  were  supplied  with  extra 
nourishment,  and  moral,  intellectual  and  physical  education,  is  an  illustration  of  the  fact  that  the  Committee 
will  discontinue  any  work  which  no  longer  seems  of  vital  importance.  This  reduces  our  general  expenses  about 
18,000  francs  a  month. 

During  the  months  of  August  and  September,  at  the  request  of  our  Public  Health  Department,  Boullay- 
Thierry  received  70  debilitated  pre-tubercular  children  for  special  nursing  and  care.  Plans  are  now  before 
the  Prefecture  for  the  creation  of  a  French  Committee  in  the  Aisne  to  organize  a  Preventorium  for  debili¬ 
tated  children  who  otherwise  may  not  survive  the  present  hardships  of  life  in  the  devastated  area. 

PERMANENT  SOCIAL  RECONSTRUCTION 
Public  Health  Department. 

Under  this  title  we  classify  Child  Hygiene,  Public  Health  Nursing  and  Hospital.  An  excellent  report 
has  been  submitted  by  Mrs.  Breckinridge,  also  one  giving  statistics  of  our  Hospital.  We  hope  eventually  by 
the  intensive  character  of  this  work  to  prove  its  immense  value  to  the  younger  generation  of  France.  The 
authorities  are  already  deeply  impressed  with  the  necessities  of  saving  100%  of  the  present  generation. 
Nearly  all  of  the  Public  Health  authorities  in  France  have  visited  this  department  of  our  work  and  con¬ 
sidered  the  advisibility  of  Public  Health  work  throughout  the  devastated  provinces. 

The  great  difficulty  in  France  is  to  find  the  type  of  nurse  fitted  for  this  important  work.  With  but 
one  small  Training  School,  France  graduates  only  about  15  nurses  a  year  of  the  type  who  can  be  classified 
as  “Public  Health”  nurses ;  and  no  important  extension  can  be  made  until  such  time  as  we  have  in  France 


Public  Health  nurses  such  as  we  understand  them  in  America.  For  this  reason  we  have  agitated  the  advisa¬ 
bility  of  Scholarships  which  will  give  intelligent,  capable  Frenchwomen  an  opportunity  to  come  in  contact 

with  I  ublic  Health  nursing  in  America  and  to  return  here  to  carry  on  the  responsibility  of  propaganda  in 
France. 

Mrs.  Breckenridge,  Director  of  our  Public  Health  Department,  has  chosen  Mademoiselle  Monod  and 
Mademoiselle  Dubreuil  as  two  exceptional  women  of  great  intelligence  for  these  Scholarships.  This  work 
will  require  long  sustained  effort  on  the  part  of  the  Committee  and  the  individual  French  men  and  women 
whom  we  may  interest  in  the  cause  before  it  can  be  eventually  realized ;  but  the  concensus  of  opinion  in  Frants 
is  that  the  Ministry  of  Hygiene  has  come  to  stay,  and  in  emphasizing  the  importance  of  this  Department  under 

Scholarships’’  we  are  cooperating  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  most  progressive  men  and  women  in  this 
country. 

In  taking  over  Public  Health  nursing  in  Rheims,  staffed  with  British  nurses,  we  hope  to  be  able  to  carry 
it  long  enough  to  place  Mademoiselle  Monod  as  Directrice  of  Public  Health  work  for  the  City  of  Rheims,  and 
to  replace  the  present  personnel  by  French  personnel.  Eventually  it  may  be  that  Mademoiselle  Dubreuil  could 
take  over  the  City  of  Soissons  under  the  municipal  authorities.  This  work  is  now  being  directed  by  Miss  Walker 
under  the  American  Committee.  The  fact  that  the  Mayor  of  Rheims  offered  housing,  heat  and  light  to 

our  staff  of  nurses  in  Rheims,  is  already  a  step  toward  realization  of  this  dream  of  cooperating  in  Public  Health 
work. 

HOSPITAL 

By  arrangement  with  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  we  were  equipped  with  twenty-five  beds  which  we 
have  been  obliged  to  stretch  to  forty  beds  because  of  the  number  of  cases  in  our  region.  Far  from  being 
unwelcome  in  the  Department  of  the  Aisne,  we  have  recently  been  asked  by  the  Prefecture  if  we  would  consent 
to  increasing  the  number  of  beds,  to  permit  hospitalization  of  foreign  labor  which  must  be  imported  into  the 
country  for  reconstruction  purposes.  This  matter  is  now  under  consideration  and  must  be  decided  during  the 
next  months  according  to  our  budget. 

FOYER,  LIBRARIES,  PHYSICAL  EDUCATION,  EDUCATION,  RECREATION 

A  specially  written  report  by  Miss  Valentine  on  the  conditions  and  situation  at  Anizy  appears  herewith; 
also  one  by  Miss  Carson  on  Libraries,  and  another  by  Miss  Doran  on  Physical  Education.  These  several 
reports  will  support  the  reasons  given  in  my  Annual  Report  of  April  for  educational  and  recreational  work. 
In  all  social  reconstruction  our  effort  tends  toward  finding  French  citizens  of  intelligence  and  responsibility 
who  will  form  themselves  into  local  committees  to  cooperate  with  the  American  Committee  and  eventually 
remain  the  local  committees  representing  educational  and  recreational  reconstruction  after  the  war.  We  hope 
that  such  local  committees  will  be  organized  with  representatives  of  every  persuasion  in  a  locality,  and  our 
policy  will  be  to  unite  them  as  closely  as  possible  with  whatever  Government  or  official  channels  may  exist. 

BOY  SCOUTS 

Our  Committee  established  a  Training  Camp  for  Boy  Scout  leaders  at  Compeigne  during  August  and 
September,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Lome  W.  Barclay,  who  was  on  leave  of  absence  from  the  National 
Boy  Scouts  of  America,  of  which  he  is  educational  director.  Mr.  Barclay  rendered  invaluable  service  in  our 
work  with  boys  and  young  men.  The  physical  and  moral  training  with  the  teaching  of  hygiene  and  preven¬ 
tive  medical  work  did  much  to  improve  the  health  of  many  undernourished  and  underdeveloped  young  men. 
Three  hundred  of  these  young  men  from  the  devastated  regions  returned  to  their  homes  after  periods  of  two 
weeks’  training,  prepared  to  organize  hundreds  of  troops  of  boys  in  these  areas,  who  are  in  great  need  of 
such  healthful  recreational  training  in  their  re-establishment.  It  is  absolutely  essential  that  they  shall  have 
the  assistance  of  the  American  Committee  in  this  work.  One  important  outcome  of  the  camp  was  the  devel¬ 
opment  of  a  new  interest  among  the  leaders  of  boys  in  France.  The  spirit  of  unity,  cooperation  and  coordi¬ 
nation  developed  was  possibly  the  greatest  service  of  all.  The  interest  of  the  French  people  in  the  enterprise 
was  intense  and  the  favorable  attention  of  the  educational  leaders  of  France  was  attracted. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Barclay,  and  after  consultation  with  M.  Tardieu,  we  have  arranged  to  retain 
the  services  of  Mr.  Henri  Guerreau  and  Dr.  Demarquette,  both  of  whom  served  under  Mr.  Barclay  on  the 
staff  of  the  camp.  On  the  advice  of  these  gentlemen  the  American  Committee  is  to  withdraw  from  its  associa¬ 
tion  with  the  “Eclaireurs  de  la  France  Devastee”  and,  with  the  services  of  Mr.  Guerreau  as  Secretary-General 
and  Dr.  Demarquette  as  Field  Secretary,  to  commence  a  campaign  in  Paris  and  in  the  field  for  the  purpose 
of  creating  local  committees  in  towns  and  villages  to  organize  and  maintain  troops  of  Scouts  in  these  towns ; 
such  committees  to  be  representative  of  Church,  State  and  public  in  these  communities,  and  the  troops 
formed  under  these  committees  to  be  affiliated  with  the  Catholic,  Neutral,  and  Protestant  Scout  movements 
already  existing.  In  other  words,  the  American  Committee  stands  outside  of  any  existing  Scout  movement 
but  will  assist  in  the  creation  of  Scout  troops  for  France.  In  addition,  a  Scout  Extension  Committee  with 
headquarters  in  Paris,  is  to  be  formed  by  the  American  Committee,  to  which  are  to  be  invited  the  various 
representatives  of  the  present  Scout  movements,  official  authorities  and  well-known  prominent  citizens  and 
journalists  who  can  be  converted  to  the  principle  of  Scouting.  The  Minister  of  the  Liberated  Regions  has 
already  made  a  gift  to  this  Committee  of  all  the  material  loaned  to  us  by  the  Ministry  for  the  Camp  at  Franc- 


port  which  can  be  used  there  next  year  for  the  camp  for  Scout-Masters.  The  Prefect  of  the  Aisne  has  also 
advised  the  Committee  that  he  has  taken  steps  to  put  aside  sufficient  material  to  organize  a  camp  for  boys  in 
his  Department,  provided  the  American  Committee  supplies  them  with  personnel.  We  are  awaiting  replies  from 
the  Prefects  of  the  Somme,  Pas-de-Calais,  and  the  Nord,  who  have  been  similarly  requested  to  equip  camps 
for  boys  in  their  respective  departments.  For  this  purpose  we  shall  need  a  new  item  in  our  budget  for  next 
year  of  $100,000  to  cover  these  expenses. 

HOME  CANNING 

The  work  of  the  Home  Canning  Demonstration  Unit  conducted  by  Mrs.  Bernice  Davis  and  specialists 
from  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  has  shown  a  remarkable  development,  as  will  be  seen  from  Mrs. 
Davis’  report.  Fifty-one  demonstrations  have  been  given  in  22  Departments  and  films  showing  American 
Canning*  and  Home  Demonstration  Clubs  have  been  exhibited.  The  total  attendance  at  classes  and  films  was 
11,500.  An  exhibit  of  canning  by  the  pupils  of  nine  schools  was  held  at  the  National  Horticultural  Exhibi¬ 
tion  in  Paris  this  summer  where  100  received  Gold  Medals.  Many  Canning  Clubs  have  been  organized.  One 
of  the  mutiles  who  attended  our  demonstrations,  writes  that  he  has  been  able  to  set  up  a  little  business  for 
himself  and  hundreds  of  others  have  received  similar  help. 

The  French  Ministry  of  Agriculture  desires  to  have  us  continue  this  work  next  year.  It  will  be  necessary 
in  1921  to  have  two  Units  from  America.  We  wish  also  to  send  to  the  U.  S.  on  a  scholarship  basis,  the  Sous- 
Directrice  of  the  Agricultural  School  at  Grignon.  This  Frenchwoman  speaks  English  and  is  familiar  with 
canning  principles  but  wishes  to  have  three  months’  practical  training  in  America  with  the  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture  Extension  Course.  She  will  then  be  able  to  cooperate  with  our  Unit  next  summer  and  can 
eventually  take  over  all  this  work  for  the  Ministry.  We  shall  need  at  least  $13,000  for  this  work  in  1921, 
which  would  include  money  for  the  scholarship. 

HOSTESS  HOUSE  AT  LAON 

In  the  early  summer  a  hostess  house  was  opened  in  the  hill  city  of  Laon  where,  during  the  war  years, 
German  Headquarters  of  the  Hindenburg  Line  were  established.  For  this  reason  the  city  was  never  demol¬ 
ished  and  the  buildings  remained  intact.  In  a  house  of  large  dimensions  with  walled  court  and  flowering 
garden,  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  opened  a  house  for  tourists  who  visited  the  Chemin 
des  Dames  and  were  interested  in  the  work  of  reconstruction. 

Mrs.  James  Lawrence  of  Boston,  with  a  competent  staff,  was  always  ready  to  welcome  visitors  and  will 
continue  next  summer.  A  limousine  presented  by  one  of  our  executives  was  at  the  disposal  of  sightseers.  The 
cost  per  day  was  one  hundred  francs  and  all  profit  was  for  the  benefit  of  those  in  the  devastated  villages  who 
had  suffered  during  the  years  of  war,  and  whose  homes  and  farms  were  caught  between  the  two  fires  of  the 
French  and  German  lines,  and  whose  country  today  is  a  desolate  waste  known  as  the  Zone  Rouge. 

In  connection  with  our  work  we  have  paid  for  the  publication  of  a  pamphlet  on  the  work  of  the  Com¬ 
mittee  for  the  French  public,  issued  under  the  name  of  the  Comtesse  de  Bremond  d’ars,  for  the  purpose  of 
interesting  the  French  of  the  interior  counties  in  work  of  this  kind  in  the  devastated  regions.  This  pamphlet 
was  published  two  months  ago  and  has  brought  in  about  19,000  francs.  Comtesse  de  Bremond  d’ars  is 
arranging  for  a  series  of  conferences  with  films,  the  first  of  which  will  be  given  at  Bordeaux  the  28th  of 
October.  The  sums  received  from  the  pamphlet  and  her  conferences  are  to  be  placed  in  the  Banque  de  France 
under  separate  account,  but  are  to  be  administered  by  the  American  Committee  and  used  for  the  seven  vil¬ 
lages  as  per  the  report  of  Anizy-le-Chateau,  known  as  the  Chavignon  group. 

To  summarize,  therefore,  the  American  Committee  has  received  from  the  26th  of  May,  1917,  to  the  first 
of  August,  1920,  the  sum  of  11,314,251  francs.  This  sum  has  been  applied,  during  the  War,  to  the  rehabilita¬ 
tion  of  the  farmers  in  the  Canton  of  Coucy,  the  care  of  the  refugees,  French  and  American  soldiers  during 
evacuation  and  the  offensives;  and,  since  November  11th,  1918,  to  the  more  solid  foundation  of  permanent 
social  reconstruction  which  is  now  under  way.  The  Committee  still  has  on  hand,  however,  definite  assets 
representing  a  monetary  value  of  5,000,000  francs,  consisting  of  motor  lorries,  automobiles,  tractors,  bar¬ 
racks,  equipment  and  stock. 

Much  has  been  accomplished  but  there  is  still  a  vast  amount  to  be  done,  and  unless  one  is  deeply 
conscious  of  the  daily  problems  of  these  victims  of  the  war  it  is  difficult  to  understand  why,  two  years  after 
the  Armistice,  there  should  still  be  need  for  the  American  Committee  in  this  devastated  corner  of  France. 
Until  conditions  are  normal  and  there  is  less  suffering  by  both  young  and  old,  who  are  endeavoring  to  find 
a  footing  in  the  struggle  for  life,  there  is  incontestable  need  of  the  helping  hand  which  the  American  Com¬ 
mittee  is  giving.  It  must  be  gratifying  to  our  Committees  in  America  to  realize  that  the  children  in  this 
part  of  Devastated  France  will  forever  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  American  sentiment  has  never  wavered 
through  the  War  nor  through  the  critical  years  which  have  not  seen  Peace  restored. 

Sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)  ANNE  DIKE, 

Commissioner. 

^ote:  The  various  Reports  mentioned  in  this  letter,  which  summarize  the  work  to  October  1,  1920,  will  be  mailed  upon 
receipt  of  request  addressed  to  The  Secretary  at  16  East  39th  Street,  New  York. 


Appeals  were  also  made  through  the  newspapers  for  illustrated  maga¬ 
zines  for  use  in  the  schools  and  kindergartens,  and  the  result  was  hundreds 
of  sacks  of  mail  delivered  to  our  centers  in  the  devastated  Aisne. 

The  winter’s  work  consisted  mainly  in  supplying  our  film  department 
with  the  necessary  literature  for  distribution  in  those  cities  where  lecturers 
and  the  film  had  already  been  introduced.  Through  the  Publicity  Depart¬ 
ment  the  initial  presentation  of  “The  Heritage  of  France’’  was  given  (by 
invitation  only)  at  the  Hotel  Plaza,  on  the  evening  of  November  tenth.  Our 
President,  the  Honorable  Myron  T.  Herrick,  presided,  and  introduced  the 
speakers,  Miss  Morgan  and  Mr.  Wythe  Williams.  Contributions  following 
this  presentation  amounted  to  $5,038. 

The  former  Lecture  Bureau,  under  the  direction  of  the  Publicity  Depart¬ 
ment,  sent  out  no  lecturers  after  the  film  department  was  inaugurated  in 
November.  Prior  to  that  date  lectures  during  the  summer  months  brought 
in  $17,360.68. 

The  bulletin  “Under  Two  Flags”  has  been  sent  weekly  to  eleven  hun¬ 
dred  of  our  members,  and  will  draw  to  a  close  at  the  end  of  its  second 
year,  September,  1920. 

The  Chairman  of  Publicity  was  in  France  during  ten  weeks  and  Mrs. 
Gilbert  H.  Montague  most  efficiently  filled  the  position,  and  during  that  time 
organized  and  presented  a  benefit  Fashion  Show  at  the  Hotel  Commodore, 
which  proved  not  only  financially  successful  but  gave  extensive  publicity 
to  the  American  Committee. 

The  total  profit  for  the  year  through  Publicity,  including  the  value  of 
knit  garments  received  in  response  to  the  Special  Appeal,  was  $111,155.59. 


Overseas  Personnel 

During  the  past  year  68  workers  have  been  accepted  for  service  in 
France;  seven  former  workers  have  returned,  and  eight  liaison  officers  have 
gone  over  to  inspect  the  work. 

With  the  exception  of  five  who  have  been  chosen  for  special  qualifica¬ 
tions,  all  workers  are  volunteers  who  have  entirely  met  their  own  expenses. 

The  workers  accepted  include:  33  Chauffeurs;  18  General  Workers; 
5  Secretaries;  9  Special  Workers;  3  Directrices;  8  Liaison  Officers.  This 
personnel  has  been  chosen  out  of  640  applicants  after  personal  interviews  or 
from  letters  of  recommendation.  The  choice  was  based  upon  character,  per¬ 
sonality,  knowledge  of  French  and  record  of  previous  work.  The  workers 
this  winter  were  largely  drawn  from  the  ranks  of  recent  college  graduates  in 
whom  the  group  spirit  is  well  developed  and  whose  qualifications  for  work 
apart  from  family  life  were  well  tested. 

7 


The  volunteer  who  for  the  love  of  France  is  willing  to  endure  hardship, 
who  is  filled  with  the  vision  of  service,  who  often  goes  at  great  personal 
sacrifice,  seems  one  of  the  best  possible  means  to  establish  a  lasting  friend¬ 
ship  between  this  country  and  France.  In  addition  to  the  devoted  personal 
service  rendered  by  these  women,  their  connection  with  the  organization  has 
been  helpful  in  extending  knowledge  of  the  Committee’s  work  in  twenty-two 
States  of  the  Union  and  in  Canada.  The  following  fifty-one  cities  and  towns 
are  represented,  some  of  the  large  cities  supplying  several  workers: 


Canada 

Toronto 

California 
Eureka 
Martinez 
Pasadena 
San  Francisco 

Colorado 

Denver 

Connecticut 

Hartford 

D.  C. 

Washington  (2) 

Delaware 

Greenville 

Georgia 
%  Savannah 

Illinois 

Chicago  (2) 

Kansas 

Wichita 


Massachusetts 
Boston 
Fitchburg 
Harvard 
Manchester 
Pittsfield 
West  Newton 
Winchester 
Worcester 

Missouri 

St.  Joseph 
Kansas  City 

New  Hampshire 
Jaffrav 
Nashua 
Wonalancet 

New  Jersey 

Lyndhurst 

Newark 

Passaic 

Morristown 

North  Carolina 
Spray 

Ohio 

Cincinnati 

Oregon  ' 

Portland 


Pennsylvania 

Meadowbrook 
Philadelphia  (2) 
Pittsburgh 
Rydal 

Wilkesbarre 

New  York 
Brooklyn 
Buffalo 

Great  Neck,  L.  I. 
Hartsdale  (3) 
New  York  (16) 
Scarsdale 
West  Point 

Rhode  Island 
Pawtucket 
Providence  (2) 

South  Carolina 
Charleston 

Texas 

Dallas 

Virginia 

Front  Royal 

Washington 

Seattle 


American  W omen9 s  Hospitals 

The  contract  between  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France 
and  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  terminated  on  December  31,  1919. 
The  hospital,  dispensary  and  dental  work  is  now  being  carried  on  by  our 
own  organization  with  the  co-operation  of  French  doctors  and  nurses,  and 
with  members  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  who  have  remained 
with  us. 

The  reports  of  our  Commissioner  in  France  and  of  Dr.  Lovejoy,  Chair¬ 
man  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals,  show  the  notable  result  of  the 
joint  effort  of  these  two  organizations  which  have  worked  together  in  the 
greatest  possible  harmony  on  both  sides  of  the  sea. 

The  Committee  wishes  to  express  to  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals 
its  deep  obligation  for  the  great  help  it  has  received  from  their  administra¬ 
tive  department  in  America  and  from  their  able  and  devoted  specialists  in 
France. 


8 


.  Campaign  for  $2,000,000 


At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors,  held  on  October  31,  1919,  a  pro¬ 
gram  for  the  continuance  and  development  of  the  work  in  France  was  pre¬ 
sented  and  approved.  This  plan  provides  for  continuing  the  emergency 
work  of  the  Committee  as  long  as  it  may  be  needed;  for  the  establishment  of 
five  permanent  community  centers  to  be  eventually  turned  over  to  the 
French,  and  for  the  foundation  of  a  Franco- American  Agricultural  School  in 
co-operation  with  the  French  Government. 

Authorization  was  given  to  the  Executive  Committee  to  conduct  a  cam¬ 
paign  for  raising  two  million  dollars  to  provide  funds  for  this  program  and 
to  exhibit  in  connection  therewith  a  film  entitled  “The  Heritage  of  France.” 
This  film  had  been  prepared  by  the  Committee  in  France  during  the  preced¬ 
ing  summer.  Particular  interest  centered  in  the  film  because  it  was  composed 
of  moving  pictures  of  the  people  in  our  districts  and  portrayed  the  actual 
conditions  which  existed  during  the  war  and  after  the  cessation  of  hostilities ; 
— it  was,  in  short,  an  effort  to  visualize  the  work  of  the  American  Committee 
in  France.  These  pictures  have  served  to  bring  to  the  American  public 
some  slight  realization  of  the  devastation  in  the  Department  of  the  Aisne 
and  of  the  work  performed  by  our  Committee  in  ministering  to  the  people 
under  our  care.  The  film  had  the  approval  of  the  French  Government 
authorities  who  co-operated  in  every  way  possible  at  the  time  of  its 
production. 

In  the  course  of  the  Campaign  twenty-seven  speakers  were  in  the  field 
who  gave  talks  both  with  and  without  the  film.  Several  hundred  meetings 
were  held  in  thirty  different  states  and  permanent  finance  committees  formed 
in  all  of  the  large  cities  visited. 

ft .  .  w  v  '>  s  v 

m  ^  ■ 

f  *■  ■  , 

Hundred  Clubs 

V  „-**•'*-  -  .  ■  - 

: .  -  v-  -jt*  s>  — ,  a  • 

In  addition  to  the  general  or  finance  committees,  a  plan  was  put  in  opera¬ 
tion  providing  for  the  formation  of  Hundred  Clubs.  Each  club  is  composed 
of  twenty  charter  members  and  eighty  associate  members  who  pledge  them¬ 
selves  to  give  five  dollars  monthly  for  one  year,  making  a  total  of  five  hun¬ 
dred  dollars  ($500)  per  month  or  six  thousand  dollars  ($6,000)  per  year 
from  each  Hundred  Club.  This  plan  has  been  received  with  much  enthusi¬ 
asm  bv  women’s  committees  and  by  clubs. 

v  •  *»■ 

Between  November  1st  and  the  close  of  the  fiscal  year  on  March  31st. 
$330,062  had  been  received  from  the  campaign,  with  an  additional 
$418,328  promised  by  Committees  and  War  Chests.  We  have  every  reason 
to  hope  that  within  the  next  year  we  shall  be  able  to  raise  the  entire  amount 
of  our  $2,000,000  budget. 


9 


Co-operation  of  Committees  and  Others 

To  a  very  large  extent  the  success  of  the  year’s  work  has  been  due  to 
the  loyal  support  given  by  our  Committees  throughout  the  country.  The 
devotion  of  these  Committees  to  the  work  has  been  an  inspiration  and 
stimulus  to  all  members  of  the  organization. 

We  have  continued  to  receive  the  co-operation  of  the  War  Chests  and 
Community  Chests  to  many  of  which  we  are  indebted  for  generous  appro¬ 
priations.  Special  thanks  are  due  to  the  many  organizations  and  societies, 
both  local  and  national,  which  have  co-operated  in  our  work  through  dona¬ 
tions  of  money  and  supplies. 

The  Committee  takes  pleasure  in  expressing  its  deep  sense  of  obligation 
to  the  French  High  Commission  for  its  unfailing  courtesy  and  co-operation 
and  to  the  Service  de  Transport  France-Amerique  through  whose  generosity 
we  have  been  enabled  to  make  our  shipments  to  France  free  of  expense. 

The  organization  wishes  also  to  express  to  its  personnel  in  America  and 
in  France,  both  professional  and  volunteer,  its  grateful  appreciation  of  their 
splendid  spirit  and  tireless  devotion,  which  have  helped  to  make  possible  all 
that  has  been  accomplished. 


The  National  Headquarters  of  the  A.C.D.F. 
(formerly  a  stable),  16  East  39th  Street, 
New  York 


Statistics 


The  Treasurer’s  Report  gives  details  of  receipts  and  disbursements,  but 
the  following  summary  may  be  of  interest: 


Money  received  during  the  year  - 
Installments  due  from  War  Chest  Pledges  - 

Estimate  of  additional  amounts  expected  from  Hundred 
Clubs  and  Finance  Committee  - 

Value  of  donated  supplies  based  on  Red  Cross  standard  of 
value  -  --  --  --  -- 


$804,300.95 

60,000.00 

358,328.00 

173,737.00 


Money  remitted  to  France  - 

Payments  made  to  American  Women’s  Hos¬ 
pitals  for  our  medical  work  in  France 

Cost  of  supplies  purchased  in  America  and 
shipped  to  France  -  -  -  - 

Value  of  donated  supplies  shipped  to 
France  as  mentioned  in  receipts 


$563,786.26 

63,428.55 

32,089.68 

173,737.00 


When  our  $2,000,000  has  been  raised  this  will  be  the  limit  of  our  finan¬ 
cial  responsibility,  for  with  that  sum  it  will  be  possible  to  complete  the 
emergency  work  and  to  establish  our  various  social  service  communities  and 
the  Agricultural  School  on  a  permanent  basis,  so  that  they  may  be  eventually 
turned  over  to  the  French. 

It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  the  responsibility  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Committee  does  not  end  with  the  raising  of  two  million  dollars  for  the 
rehabilitation  of  the  four  counties  assigned  to  it  by  the  French  Government. 
Ours  is  a  deeper  responsibility  than  that.  We  have  a  unique  position  in 
France  with  the  Government  and  with  the  people.  Ours  is  a  personal 
knowledge  of  the  heroic  effort  France  is  making  to  reorganize  her  country 
on  a  peace  basis.  We  believe  that  the  future  safety  and  prosperity  of  the 
world  depend  on  her  social  and  economic  reconstruction.  Through  our  com¬ 
mittees,  members  and  donors  in  America  we  have  an  unusual  opportunity  to 
spread  this  knowledge  throughout  the  country  at  a  time  when  we  believe 
that  such  knowledge  is  vitally  necessary  for  the  future  of  America  as  well 
as  of  France. 

Our  deep  sense  of  responsibility  to  our  generous  contributors  it  is  impos¬ 
sible  to  express.  We  hope  that  their  confidence  in  the  Committee  will  be 
strengthened  by  this  brief  summary  of  the  year’s  work  and  by  the  detailed 
report  of  the  work  in  France. 


MYRON  T.  HERRICK, 

President. 


11 


Treasurer’s  Report,  National  Headquarters 


For  the  Year  April  1,  1919,  to  March  31,  1920 

RECEIPTS 


Headciuarters  Donations: 


From  General  Sources: 

Undesignated  . 


Designated  for: 

Children’s  Work: 

Children’s  Colony  .  $11,655.45 

Gouters  .  2,193.00 

Child  Hygiene  .  4,590.40 

Milk  . 1,255.51 

- $19,694.36 


Agriculture  .  2,080.84 

Poultry  .  10,105.02 

Livestock  .  172.82 

Village  Rehabilitation  .  4,808.30 

Household  Supplies  .  686.40 

Motors  and  Supplies . .  1,874.61 

Schools  and  Libraries  .  2,958.00 

Workrooms  in  France .  2,485.00 

Overseas  Personnel  .  7,894.10 

Through  McCall  Pub.  Co.,  for  poultry .  3,214.86 

Butterick  Pub.  Co.  (various  uses) .  2,195.76 

“  House  Beautiful  Pub.  Co.,  for  children....  277.57 

French  Heroes  Lafayette  Memorial  Fund .  1,511.25 

National  Allied  Relief  Committee .  973.70 

Refugees’  Relief  Fund  (for  food  and  clothing) .  12,500.00 


Through  Committees  (General) 


Through  Film  Exhibitions: 

From  Committees  .  $115,804.71 

From  General  Sources  .  63,560.75 


Lecture  Bureau  . 

Fashion  Show — Advance  Receipts  . 

For  Publicity  . 

“  Salary  . 

“  Rent  . 

Miscellaneous  . 

Membership  . 

Interest  on  Deposit . 

Advance  to  Lunchroom  (Refunded) 

Total  Receipts  for  Year 


Cash  Balance  April  1,  1919: 

Columbia  Trust  Company — Deposit  Acccount . $108,408.22 

Petty  Cash  Fund .  25.00 


Total 


$345,105.36 


73,432.59 

172,743.90 


179,365.46 

18,195.74 

2,900.00 

563.43 

2,080.00 

300.00 

1,333.51 

3,313.62 

3,834.94 

1,132.40 


$804,300.95 


108,433.22 


$912,734.17 


12 


DISBURSEMENTS 


Funds  Remitted  to  France: 

From  General  Sources: 
Undesignated  . 


From  Funds  Designated  For: 

Children’s  Work: 

Children’s  Colony  .  $10,486.09 


Gouters  .  2,097.50 

Child  Hygiene  .  4,519.92 

-  $17,103.51 

Agriculture  .  9,806.82 

Poultry  .  7,538.21 

Livestock  .  248.05 

Food  .  25,774.32 

Village  Rehabilitation  .  3,508.30 

Household  Supplies  . 201.20 

Education  .  1,595.00 

Workrooms  in  France .  3,485.00 

Overseas  Personnel  .  6,045.10 

From  McCall  Pub.  Co.  (for  poultry) .  2,939.45 

Butterick  Pub.  Co.  (for  various  uses) .  2,164.21 

House  Beautiful  Pub.  Co.  (for  children) .  279.57 

French  Heroes  Lafayette  Memorial  Fund....  1,450.25 

National  Allied  Relief .  987.70 

“  Refugees’  Relief  Fund  (for  food  and 

clothing)  .  12,500.00 


From  Committees: 

Undesignated .  $164,190.27 

Designated  for: 

Children’s  Work  .  30,572.72 

Agriculture  .  7,292.00 

Poultry  .  7,505.67 

Livestock  . 6,786.00 

Food  .  510.00 

Village  Rehabilitation  .  8,326.29 

Household  Supplies  .  200.00 

Workrooms  in  France .  2,075.00 

Special  Work  .  2,829.00 


Total 


Purchases  in  United  States  Shipped  to  France: 

Motors  and  Supplies .  $  2,179.62 

Poultry  Supplies  .  285.00 

Canning  Unit  Equipment  .  828.82 

Milk,  Tapioca  and  Sugar .  14,516.88 

Household  Supplies  .  2,000.00 

Seeds  . 195.00 

Sewing  Machines  . 11,343.20 

Workroom  Supplies  .  510.73 

Miscellaneous  .  230.43 


American  Women’s  Hospitals  for  Medical  Work  in  France 

Total  sent  to  France .  (forward) . . 

13 


$237,872.62 


95,626.69 


230,286.95 


$563,786.26 


$32,089.68 

63,428.55 


$659,304.49 


Forward  .  $659,304.49 

Lecture  Bureau  .  5,318.78 

Traveling  .  1,688.12 

Fashion  Show  .  2,317.41 

Memberships  .  336.30 

National  Financial  Campaign .  18,941.43 

Film  Campaign  .  43,475.63 

Overseas  Canning  Campaign . 12,789.12 

Overseas  Personnel  . 1,305.00 

Poultry,  Livestock,  and  May  Day  Appeals .  4,581.13 

Administration  .  11,312.93 

Salaries  .  20,138.25 

Rent,  Improvements  and  Insurance .  4,668.86 

Publicity  .  11,338.07 

Shipping  to  France . 1,494.55 

Exchange  .  114.56 

Miscellaneous  .  328.07 

Advance  to  Lunchroom  (Refunded) .  1,132.40 

“  “  Workroom  (To  be  Refunded) .  2,000.00 

Repayment  of  Loan .  3,000.00 


Total  Disbursements  for  Year 


$805,585.10 


Cash  Balance  March  31,  1920: 

Columbia  Trust  Company — Deposit  Account .  $  66,081.74 

Columbia  Trust  Company — Certificate  .of  Deposit....  41,042.33 

Pettv  Cash  .  25.00 

-  107,149.07 


$912,734.17 


Auditor’s  Report 

We  have  completed  our  regular  audit  of  the  books  of  the  Headquarters 
of  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  and  of  the  Treasurer’s 
Report  for  the  year  ending  March  31st,  1920. 


In  the  course  of  our  audit  of  the  books  we  reconciled  the  Bank  account 
and  counted  the  Petty  Cash  on  hand.  We  proved  all  moneys  received  to 
have  been  deposited  in  the  Bank,  checked  all  donations  from  the  duplicate 
receipts  into  the  Cash  Book  and  examined  all  of  the  disbursements  of  the 
Committee.  We  checked  all  of  the  footings  of  the  Cash  Book  and  the 
postings  to  the  Ledger. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)  Barrow,  Wade,  Guthrie  &  Co. 

14 


Hu! 

■  Hill 

The  American  Committee  Headquarters  at  Blerancourt,  Department 
of  the  Aisne.  The  “Jardin  d’Enfants” 


The  American  Committee  Headquarters  at  Coucy  le  Chateau 
under  the  shadow  of  the  ruins  of  the  famous  fortress 


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AMERICAN  COMMITTEE 
FOR  DEVASTATED  FRANCE,  Inc. 

REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER 

April,  1919— April,  1920 


I  HEREWITH  submit  a  report  of  the  American  Committee  for  Devas¬ 
tated  France,  presenting  the  scope  of  activities  and  financial  transac¬ 
tions  of  the  Committee  in  France  during  the  year  dating  from  April  1st, 
1919,  to  April  1st,  1920. 

Since  the  period  which  was  covered  by  the  last  annual  report  submitted, 
the  work  of  our  organization  has  undergone  some  very  distinct  changes,  due 
in  a  large  measure  to  the  fact  that  the  French  Government  has  passed  a 
number  of  laws  known  as  War  Reparation  Laws  to  facilitate  the  reconstruc¬ 
tion  of  the  devastated  areas. 

It  has  been  possible  during  this  time  for  us  to  build  up  an  organization 
and  a  permanent  plant  which  the  French  will  eventually  take  over,  which, 
of  course,  was  impossible  during  the  war. 

Until  you  have  seen  this  vast  wreckage  of  devastated  area,  it  would  be 
natural  for  you  to  assume  that  France  should  have  made  considerable 
progress  in  transforming  her  battle-fields  into  productive  fields  of  peace. 
In  the  four  counties  assigned  to  the  protection  and  aid  of  this  Committee 
by  the  French  Government  in  November,  1918,  we  were  given  but  a  small 
fraction  of  the  total  destruction.  Our  four  counties,  Vic-sur-Aisne,  Soissons, 
Coucy  le  Chateau  and  Anizy  le  Chateau,  represent  approximately  200,000 
acres,  averaging  from  50  per  cent,  to  100  per  cent,  total  destruction.  The 
area  of  total  destruction  extends  800  kilometers  from  Dunkirk  to  Belfort, 
approximating  7,000,000  acres,  and  varies  in  depth,  notably  in  two  depart¬ 
ments,  the  Somme  and  the  Aisne.  The  most  destroyed  Department  is  that 
of  the  Aisne.  The  destroyed  area  extends  from  150  to  200  kilometers  into 
this  Department. 

My  purpose  in  speaking  of  this  is  two-fold;  first,  because  we  cannot 
repeat  too  often  that  the  reconstruction  of  nine  invaded  departments  by  a 
depleted  nation  cannot  be  compared  with  the  disasters  of  San  Francisco  and 
Messina;  secondly,  this  organization  since  1918  has  been  engaged  in  rehabil¬ 
itation  work  in  this  small  fraction  of  four  counties,  working  intensively  on 
the  problem,  co-operating  closely  with  the  government  and  with  the  people, 
continuously  applying  the  funds  so  generously  contributed  by  our  commit¬ 
tees  to  this  problem,  and  yet  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  armistice  we  feel 
there  is  a  vast  amount  of  rehabilitation  work  not  even  yet  touched. 

17 


By  means  of  our  personnel  and  transportation  facilities,  we  have  created 
field  centers  in  these  counties,  which  serve  not  only  as  distributing  and  oper¬ 
ating  centers,  but  as  active  agencies,  in  placing  within  the  reach  of  the 
inhabitants  the  means  with  which  to  live  and  to  produce,  and  also  in  creating 
communicating  lines  between  what  was  fifteen  months  ago  a  desert,  and 
the  world. 

Our  activities  today  may  be  classified  into  those  of  temporary  and 
permanent  character.  In  presenting  our  financial  statement  these  two 
classifications  will  be  described  with  their  sub-divisions. 

In  one  year  we  have  received  total  donations  of  5,494,796.95  francs 
exclusive  of  the  value  of  gifts  of  clothing,  food,  etc.,  sent  by  our  committees 
and  individual  donors.  Of  these,  4,942,575.60  francs  were  donations 
received  through  the  National  Committee,  and  552,221.35  francs  were  dona¬ 
tions  received  in  Paris. 


Statement 


STATEMENT  OF  CASH  RECEIPTS  AND  DISBURSEMENTS 


Francs  Francs 

Cash  on  hand  in  Paris,  April  1,  1919 .  550,264.38 

Donations  National  Committee  .  4,942,575.60 

Donations  Paris  .  552,221.35 


Total  donations  .  5,494,796.95 

Sales  and  Reimbursements  .  2,939,593.76 

Loans  from  French  Government  .  170,000.00 

Interest  received  . 9,871.58 

-  8,614,262.29 


Total  . .  9,164,526.62 

Disbursement  .  7,648,241.25 

Cash  on  hand  March  31,  1920 . 1,516,285.37 

Our  cash  resources  at  this  time  consist  of  the  above  balance  of  cash .  1,516,285.37 

Bons  de  la  Defense  .  250,000.00 


1,766,285.37 


THE  OTHER  ASSETS  of  the  Committee  consist  of: 

Francs  Francs 

A  fleet  of  32  Ford  trucks  and  four  3-ton  trucks  valued  at.  .  206,000.00 

Other  trucks  (15)  .  358,500.00 

3  trailers  .  11,863.00 

31  tractors  valued  at  . 412,500.00 

Inventory  of  work  shop  amounted  to .  112,944.00 

Farm  material  (Villeneuve)  .  293.740.00 

Farm  material  (Bretouville)  .  121,210.00 

Merchandise  on  hand,  purchased  in  France  at  Paris  ware¬ 
house  and  centers,  valued  at .  351,626.15 

-  1,868,183.15 


Value  merchandise  on  hand  received  from  National  Committee  in 


America  ($135,756.17  at  10  francs) 


1,357,561.70 


3,225,744.85 

Therefore,  we  have  on  hand  total  merchandise  and  plant  assets  of  3,225,744.85  francs. 


18 


The  progress  made  in  the  rehabilitation  of  the  counties  of  Soissons  and 
Vic  is,  naturally,  far  in  advance  of  the  conditions  still  to  be  found  in  the 
counties  of  Coucy  le  Chateau  and  Anizy  le  Chateau.  Our  villages  south  of 
the  Aisne  were  not  at  any  time  the  battle  line,  excepting  during  the  period 
of  May,  1918,  until  the  advance  of  General  Mangin’s  Army,  July,  which 
permitted  the  American  Committee  to  return  to  Vic-sur- Aisne  in  the  autumn 
of  1918  and  re-establish  its  center  at  Vic.  The  inhabitants,  therefore,  south 
of  the  Aisne,  while  they  have  suffered  greatly  in  that  their  villages  sustained 
50  per  cent,  destruction,  and  in  one  instance  total  destruction  during  that 
period,  have  at  least  enjoyed  a  fairly  normal  existence  and  were  able  to 
partially  cultivate  their  fields  during  1915,  1916  and  1917.  While  the  loss 
of  human  life  and  material  losses  were  great,  in  the  years  1918  to  1919  we 
were  able  to  establish  at  least  a  fairly  decent  living  existence,  and  in  these 
two  counties  we  have  already  begun  work  of  a  more  permanent  character — 
child  hygiene,  clinics  for  mothers  and  babies,  school  work  and  social  recon¬ 
struction. 

The  same,  however,  does  not  pertain  to  villages  north  of  the  Aisne,  the 
county  of  Coucy  le  Chateau,  and  especially  the  county  of  Anizy,  where 
literally  nothing  but  First  Aid  has  as  yet  been  given. 

Our  expenditures  during  the  year  were  as  follows : 

FRANCS 

Total  expenditures  -  7,648,24-1.25 

*Reimbursements  -  2,939,593.76 

Net  expenditures  -  4,708,647.49 

In  the  following  pages  these  net  expenditures  will  be  taken  up  item  by 
item,  and  it  will  be  shown  just  what  has  been  accomplished  in  each  instance. 

During  the  war,  it  was  a  very  common  occurrence  to  hear  French,  Eng¬ 
lish  and  Americans  say:  “these  devastated  fields  will  be  reconstructed  by 
German  indemnities.”  During  the  months  of  discussion  of  the  treaty,  war 
reparations  were  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  all  those  who  had  suffered 
from  German  invasion.  It  was  unthinkable  to  us  that  France  would  be 
left  to  face  this  problem  alone.  Time  passed.  In  the  interest  of  France 
and  to  aid  in  her  problem  of  production,  the  emigrants  were  encouraged  to 
return  to  resume  either  agricultural  or  industrial  work.  To  meet  immediate 
urgent  needs  the  French  Government  passed  three  war  reparation  laws  in 
favor  of  her  own  reconstruction  problem.  By  these  laws  the  returning  popu¬ 
lation  was  entitled  to  receive  from  the  government  a  percentage  of 
indemnities  against  losses  for  (1)  construction,  (2)  furniture,  (3)  payment 
of  government  experts  to  verify  losses.  300,000,000  francs  in  1919  were 
given  to  the  people  of  the  devastated  area  for  these  purposes.  The  Ameri¬ 
can  Committee  has  been  instrumental  as  a  useful  agency  in  the  application 
of  these  laws  concerning  advances  for  furniture  and  reparation. 


*  Refunds  paid  by  the  people  from  War  Indemnities  received  from  their 
Government. 


19 


In  the  absence  of  all  merchandise  in  our  four  counties  we  established 
rolling  stores  or  fixed  stores  and  in  our  four  big  centers  large  warehouses 
from  which  these  rolling  stores  radiated  into  the  county,  whereby  the  inhab¬ 
itants  could  purchase  from  us  at  cost  price  furniture  consisting  of  beds, 
bedding,  kitchen  utensils,  etc.,  manufactured  in  France.  The  American 
Committee  transported  these  articles  without  cost  to  the  people.  In  the 
cases  where  the  families  were  large  and  the  indemnities  did  not  seem  to  us  in 
proportion  to  the  needs  of  the  family,  the  American  Committee  has  made 
gifts  of  essentials  for  a  decent  existence.  Our  rolling  stores  bcame  fixed 
stores  as  quickly  as  the  farmer,  grocer  or  small  shopkeeper  returned  to  his 
village  and  could  profit  by  our  transportation  to  become  self-supporting. 
In  many  cases  we  were  obliged  to  encourage  this  initiative  on  his  part  by 
supplying  his  shop  with  the  commodities  required,  but  always  fixing  the 
price  so  that  the  inhabitants  of  his  region  would  not  be  exploited.  This 
mode  of  procedure  has  been  used  by  the  American  Committee  for  over  a 
year  and  has  proved  satisfactory  in  every  respect.  No  reproach  nor  com¬ 
plaint  has  ever  been  made.  This  method,  therefore,  helped  the  former  shop¬ 
keeper  to  resume  his  pre-war  occupation.  The  indemnities  paid  by  the 
Government  to  the  people  have  been  employed  in  the  purchase  of  furnishings 
manufactured  in  France  which  we  have  supplied  at  cost  and  have 
transported. 


One  of  the  Home  Canning  classes  conducted  by  the  American  Committee. 
The  class  shown  in  this  picture  was  at  Grignon,  the  largest  agricultural 
college  in  France.  Professors  from  this  and  other  colleges  are 
studying  American  home  canning  methods.  This  form  of 
food  conservation  was  hitherto  unknown  in  France 


TEMPORARY  ACTIVITIES 


Under  this  heading  we  have  covered  the  work  involved  by  repatriation  of 
the  refugees — first  aid  to  meet  immediate  urgent  needs  for  living  and  produc¬ 
tion.  These  activities  may  be  sub-divided  into  the  following  major  divisions: 

Supplying  house  furnishings 
Supplying  clothes 
Supplying  food 
Farm  restoration 

Reparation  i 

All  of  these,  however,  depending  upon  the  corner  stone  of  our  work,  which 
is  transportation. 


Transportation 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  803,385.59 

Reimbursements  -  127,439.10 

Net  expenditures  -  675,946.49 

Without  transportation  our  organization  would  be  of  very  little  value 
to  the  devastated  areas.  Our  fleet  of  51  trucks  constantly  plying  back  and 
forth  between  Paris  and  our  centers,  radiating  from  our  field  centers,  carry¬ 
ing  supplies,  has  been  indispensable  to  the  establishing  not  only  of  our  plant, 
but  in  supplying  the  first  needs  for  living.  Without  transportation  we  could 
never  have  developed  our  work  from  temporary  activities  into  work  of  a 
more  permanent  character  because  we  are  dependent  upon  our  cars  to  carry 
nurses,  instructors  or  doctors  to  their  fields  of  activity.  The  expenditures 
represent  the  original  cost  and  up-keep  of  51  trucks,  the  sales  represent  cars 
of  1917  which  have  been  liquidated.  Capital  represented  by  the  number  of 
cars  now  in  use  is  an  important  item  in  our  inventory  and  amounts  approx¬ 
imately  to  576,363  francs.  The  efficiency  of  such  an  administration  as  ours 
depends  largely  upon  its  motor  service.  We  all  agree  that  to  no  group  of 
the  workers  is  more  credit  due  than  to  our  American  chauffeurs,  who  have 
given  so  untiringly  of  their  strength  and  devotion.  For  all  of  our 
overseas  transportation  we  owe  an  immense  debt  to  the  France-Amerique, 
which  has  been  unfailingly  kind  and  helpful  in  this  important  matter,  and 
in  its  supervision  of  the  American  Committee’s  supplies  on  their  arrival  in 
France.  I  am  inserting  here  a  letter  received  from  Mr.  Gabriel  Hanotaux, 
President  of  the  France-Amerique. 

(Translation) 

L’Olivette,  Cap-Martin, 

February  18,  1920. 

Dear  Mrs.  Dike: 

The  name  of  your  Committee  has  only  to  be  mentioned  anywhere  in  these  regions 
to  evoke  an  outburst  of  gratitude.  You  have  done  and  are  doing  daily  a  really 
great  work.  It  has  been  conducted  in  a  spirit  showing  a  true  understanding  of 
practical  help  by  people  who,  living  in  the  midst  of  the  afflicted  population,  know 
their  real  sufferings  and  what  remedies  are  the  most  efficacious  to  apply. 

21 


Your  children’s  work,  your  dispensaries,  your  workshops,  your  gifts,  in  fact  all 
your  activities  are  wonderfully  organized  and  admirably  run.  Everything  that  tends 
to  develop  and  strengthen  these  good  works  during  the  long  years  yet  to  come  will 
he  supplying  an  absolute  necessity.  To  abandon  them  would  be  really  cruel. 

Allow  me  to  give  my  opinion  on  the  situation  of  our  devastated  regions  and  of 
their  future  from  the  point  of  view  of  their  reconstitution.  You  know  better  than 
anybody  else  that  in  spite  of  the  tenacious  work  of  so  many  men  and  courageous 
families,  who  have  gone  back  to  their  ruined  homes,  any  return  of  normal  conditions 
of  living  is  impossible  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Agriculture  especially,  which  was 
the  principal  occupation  in  this  vast  district,  cannot  give  results  again  until  long 
years  of  arduous  labor  have  passed.  In  the  meantime  there  are  neither  agricultural 
machines  nor  horses,  nor  live  stock,  nor  manure  in  sufficient  quantities.  But  what  is 
far  worse,  the  soil  itself  in  large  areas  has  been  destroyed  by  shells  and  trenches. 
Men  are  wanting.  600,000  of  those  who  died  have  belonged  to  the  devastated  dis¬ 
tricts,  without  counting  the  maimed,  the  sick,  those  suffering  from  tuberculosis,  etc. 
All  that  had  to  be  built  up,  and  that  means  one-fifth  of  France.  History  shows  by 
precedents  that  it  will  take  twenty  years  to  succeed.  And  in  the  meantime,  as  Ger¬ 
many  has  only  paid  an  insignificant  indemnity,  the  money  must  flow  in  and  come  to 
us  from  every  source.  France  is  doing  a  lot.  We  are  overburdening  our  budgets 
to  reconstitute  our  soil,  our  roads,  our  means  of  communication,  etc.,  but  much  re¬ 
mains  to  be  done  by  charity. 

From  the  latter  standpoint  America  has  put  herself  at  the  head  of  the  movement. 
France  will  never  forget  how  widely  you  Americans  opened  your  arms  to  her.  Our 
children  who  have  been  saved  by  you,  will  bless  your  name,  and  it  will  be  another 
bond,  and  not  the  least  strong  of  those  uniting  our  two  republics. 

Respectfully  yours, 

,  (Signed)  GABRIEL  HANOTAUX. 


Household  Furnishings 


FRANCS 

Expenditures 

- 

910,260.85 

Reimbursements 

- 

-  '  756,813.07 

Net  expenditures 

- 

153,457.48 

These  expenditures  were  made  for  the  purchase  of  ordinary  household 
articles,  such  as  beds,  bedding,  chairs,  tables,  kitchen  utensils,  dishes,  etc. 
The  system  of  reimbursment  has  already  been  explained.  In  addition  we 
have  distributed  gifts  of  bedding  and  kitchen  utensils  from  America  to  the 
value  of  11,931.70  francs. 

It  is  of  interest  to  know  that  the  Prefecture  of  the  Department  of  the 
Aisne,  after  inspection  of  our  supplies  at  Blerancourt,  offered  to  stock  the 
warehouse  with  household  furniture  which  the  government  had  purchased 
from  the  American  liquidation  stock.  The  American  Committee,  acting  as 
the  agent  of  the  Prefecture  in  this  matter,  kept  strict  account  of  sales,  and 
refunded  monthly  to  the  government  the  sums  received. 

This  co-operation  has  relieved  us  of  heavy  purchases  for  the  warehouses 
of  the  county  of  Coucy  and  of  the  cost  of  transportation. 

We  cannot  give  any  definite  assurance  that  the  French  Government  is  in 
a  position  to  maintain  this  arrangement. 

22 


Clothing 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  474,184.38 

Reimbursements  -  310,234.72 

Net  expenditures  -  163,949.66 

There  is  no  war  reparation  law  in  regard  to  indemnities  for  clothing. 
The  large  amount  of  refunds  is  therefore  particularly  significant,  these 
reimbursements  having  been  made  to  us  by  our  people  out  of  their  daily 
wages,  by  means  of  many  small  economies.  The  absence  of  shops  and  the 
need  for  garments  of  certain  materials,  to  which  they  are  accustomed  for 
outdoor  wear,  created  a  demand  for  flat  materials  that  they  could  convert 
into  garments  for  themselves. 

In  addition  to  this  we  have  distributed  of  the  supplies  sent  to  us  as 
gifts  from  America,  men’s,  women’s  and  children’s  clothing  valued  at 
583,176.50  francs. 

Food 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  903,711.73 

Reimbursements  -  -  -  -  605,242.45 

Net  expenditures  -  -  -  298,469.28 

Alimentation  held  priority  in  the  early  days  after  the  Armistice,  the 
conditions  of  the  rails,  railroad  cars,  locomotives,  bridges,  roads,  and  lack 
of  personnel  creating  a  very  grave  problem  for  the  government  to  secure 
regular  arrivals  of  food  in  every  district.  Unless  one  has  seen  a  war-ridden 
country  where  the  inhabitants  have  been  living  for  months  on  very  small 
rations,  one  can  have  no  conception  of  the  immediate  importance  of  arrivals 
of  food  in  these  regions.  The  tenacity,  resistance  and  courage  of  the  French 
were  magnificently  displayed  in  these  early  months  after  the  war.  When 
one  considers  that  for  three  or  four  years  most  of  them  had  been  in  the 
country  occupied  by  the  Germans  in  absolute  servitude,  and  had  been 
returned  to  France  suffering  from  all  forms  of  malnutrition,  their  fortitude 
and  desire  to  live  was  amazing.  In  their  eagerness  to  re-establish  communal 
well-being  many  of  the  mayors  and  leading  citizens  have  been  known  to 
walk  weary  miles  to  transport  on  their  backs  or  in  handcarts  the  staple 
articles  which  had  been  procured  for  them  at  the  big  central  depots  organ¬ 
ized  by  the  government.  Such  effort  cannot  be  developed  when  a  man  is 
physically  undermined ;  therefore,  the  American  Committee  immediately 
began  a  system  of  rolling  stores  through  which  we  supplied  these  people 
with  the  supplementary  alimentation  of  chocolate,  jam,  macaroni,  pork,  and 
sometimes  sugar,  thus  providing  the  food  elements  especially  needed. 

It  is  impossible  for  us  to  describe  their  gratitude  for  our  gifts  of  food 
from  America  which  we  distributed  to  the  value  of  231,978.20  francs. 

The  shawl  from  America ;  the  quilt  from  our  Committees ;  the  color  of 
our  cotton  prints;  the  quality  of  our  sardines;  the  gift  of  jam,  brought  a 
message  of  radiant  sunshine  into  many  dreary  lives. 

23 


Gouters 


In  connection  with  this  subject  of  food,  there  is  the  very  important 
subdivision  of  gouters,  or  increased  alimentation  for  the  children.  The 
Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium  and  Northern  France  invited  the  co-oper¬ 
ation  of  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  to  establish  gouters 
for  the  children,  consisting  of  hot  chocolate  and  biscuits.  The  personnel  of 
the  American  Committee  have  served  4,657  children  in  our  four  counties 
with  hot  chocolate  and  biscuits  five  days  a  week  at  four  o’clock.  When 
supplies  of  the  C.  R.  B.  were  limited,  the  American  Committee  purchased 
the  necessary  chocolate  and  condensed  milk,  and  has  since  been  reimbursed 
in  full  by  the  C.  R.  B.,  but  we  have  been  unable  to  secure  definite  assurance 
from  the  Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium  that  they  will  be  able  to  continue 
them  through  next  winter.  These  gouters  are  of  vital  importance.  They 
have  largely  contributed  to  building  up  these  frail  little  bodies  so  reduced 
by  the  privations  of  war.  Although  this  subject  is  placed  under  our  tempor¬ 
ary  activities,  we  hope  to  be  able  to  assure  the  people  of  France  that  the 
gouters  will  be  continued  by  our  Committee  next  year,  in  the  event  that  the 
Commission  for  Relief  in  Belgium  is  not  able  to  support  this  work. 


Agriculture 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  994,357.36 

Reimbursements  -  246,861.71 


Net  expenditures  -  747,495.65 

These  net  expenditures  consist  of  the  following: 

Seeds  -  ~  -  -  -  -  -  27,135.08 

Tractors  and  parts  -  450,871.90 

Agricultural  syndicates  -  269.488.67 


Total  ------  747,495.65 

In  the  spring  of  1919  the  American  Committee  purchased  and  trans¬ 
ported  135,000  lbs.  of  potatoes,  50  lbs.  of  assorted  vegetable  seeds,  for 
which  we  were  reimbursed  at  less  than  cost.  The  war  was  over  and  every 
peasant  was  eager  to  dig  and  plough,  plant  small  vegetable  gardens  or  large 
potato  fields,  secure  in  the  possession  of  the  soil  and  no  longer  menaced 
by  further  invasion.  Fatigue  and  exhaustion  were  forgotten.  This  was  our 
big  opportunity  to  help  them  make  the  soil  productive  and  reduce  the  cost 
of  living.  Gifts  from  America  helped  us  greatly.  We  were  able  to  dis¬ 
tribute  12,000  lbs.  of  beans  and  about  1,500  lbs.  of  seeds  from  America. 
The  farmers  were  not  yet  grouped  into  syndicates  and  in  the  absence  of 
railroad  facilities  they  could  not  hope  to  obtain  transportation  for  small 
orders.  These  we  purchased  and  transported  for  them.  Further  than  that, 
we  transported  to  our  own  Counties  for  distribution  over  46,000  lbs.  of 
potatoes  from  Laon,  where  the  Government  had  centralized  its  seed  stock 

24 


1918— THE  YEAR  OF  THE  TANKS 


1920— THE  YEAR  OF  THE  TRACTORS 
Thanks  to  the  generosity  of  the  loyal  supporters  of  the  American  Committee, 
the  transformation  of  these  shell-torn  fields  has  been  made  possible. 


for  the  Department  of  the  Aisne.  Implements  and  garden  tools  of  all  sorts 
were  purchased  to  the  value  of  1 3,620  francs,  distributed  and  sold  at  far 
below  cost. 

The  next  step  was  the  formation  of  our  farmers’  syndicates,  of  which 
we  have  26  in  the  county  of  Coucy  formed  and  in  operation,  to  encourage 
the  group  spirit  in  these  Gaul  farmers  who  have  always  been  tremendously 
individualistic.  This  was  not  an  easy  task,  but  was  absolutely  vital  to  their 
interest  and  to  meet  the  national  problem  of  wheat  for  consumption.  The 
American  Committee  proposed  to  each  syndicate  the  loan  of  one  or  two  Ford- 
son  tractors  and  agreed  to  maintain  a  depot  of  gasoline,  oil  and  grease  for  the 
functioning  of  the  tractors,  the  syndicates  to  pay  the  cost  price  of  these 
supplies  and  the  salary  of  the  chauffeur  for  the  tractor.  The  purchase  price 
of  our  tractors  was  455,500  francs.  The  cultivation  of  the  land  by  American 
machinery  proved  an  instantaneous  success.  Three  tractors  were  sold  at 
the  full  cost  price  of  43,000  francs  to  three  of  our  most  important  farmers, 
leaving  the  net  cost  of  tractors  412,500  francs. 

The  result  achieved  by  our  syndicates  far  more  than  fulfilled  our  expecta¬ 
tions.  Less  than  a  year  ago  the  fields  were  still  uncleared  of  shells,  grenades 
and  barbed  wire.  There  remain  portions  of  land  still  uncleared ;  neverthless 
we  have  (on  April  1,  1920)  2,500  acres  under  cultivation  and  another  2,000 
acres  ploughed  and  ready  for  spring  sowing,  in  the  county  of  Coucy. 

We  are  deeply  indebted  to  Mrs.  Whitney  Warren  for  her  gift  of  three 
tractors  to  the  three  farmers’  syndicates  that  have  been  formed  at  Coucy 
le  Chateau.  This  famous  site  sits  high  in  a  region  of  total  destruction.  The 
formation  of  these  three  syndicates,  the  establishment  of  one  of  our  field 
centers  with  warehouse,  domestic  science  school,  nursing  center,  etc.,  financed 
by  the  Covington  Thimble  Club,  have  given  an  incentive  to  the  inhabitants 
of  this  ruined  region,  who  are  today  full  of  progressive  spirit.  Even  at  this 
late  date  transportation  is  one  of  the  biggest  problems  facing  France.  By 
centralizing  the  orders  of  our  farmers’  syndicates  in  the  county  of  Coucy 
we  were  able  to  secure  transportation  for  21  carloads  of  wheat,  oats,  barley 
and  nitrates.  We  secured  transportation,  however,  only  by  representation 
of  the  work  accomplished  by  our  tractors  and  the  immediate  need  of  the 
seeds  for  autumn  sowing  which  gave  priority  to  our  claims. 

The  sum  of  23,952.70  francs  represents  the  cost  of  administration  of 
our  agricultural  syndicates  and  includes  the  salary  of  an  expert  and  his 
assistants  to  teach  and  supervise  the  use  of  our  tractors  and  the  repair  shop 
where  repairs  and  adjustments  are  essential.  Each  syndicate  is  invited  to 
recommend  to  the  American  Committee  a  candidate  as  chauffeur  of  the 
syndicate  tractor.  His  instruction  on  the  field  and  in  the  workshop  is  under¬ 
taken  by  our  expert  and  after  a  week’s  trial  he  returns  to  t^ie  syndicate  and 
is  put  on  its  salary  list. 

After  next  harvest  we  are  expecting  the  syndicates  to  take  over  a  large 
part  of  these  administration  expenses  for  the  county  of  Coucy. 

26 


Live  Stock 


FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  267, 684. 74- 

Reimbursements  -  194,071.47 


Net  expenditures  -  73,613.27 

The  net  expenditures  represent  the  difference  between  the  purchase 
price  and  the  sale  to  the  peasants  at  far  below  cost  of  35  cows,  1,000  rabbits. 
15,000  chickens,  26  goats.  Our  inventory  of  live  stock  on  hand  shows 
4  cows  and  2  bulls  valued  at  2,000  francs  each ;  7  of  these  35  cows  were 
distributed  as  gifts.  The  refunds  of  194,071.47  represent,  very  largely, 
reimbursements  on  poultry.  We  were  urgently  requested  not  to  make  out¬ 
right  gifts  of  poultry  and,  in  agreement  with  other  organizations,  it  was 
arranged  that  poultry  would  be  sold  at  ten  francs  apiece;  the  cost  to  us 
was  in  the  neighborhood  of  14  to  16  francs.  In  some  cases,  however,  out¬ 
right  gifts  were  made  of  poultry  purchased,  and  the  product  of  our  incu¬ 
bators  was  distributed  as  gifts,  these  numbering  8,631  chickens.  We  have 
15  incubators  and  8  brooders  in  our  four  counties. 

We  shall  extend  this  policy  to  the  county  of  Anizy,  which  was  infinitely 
more  destroyed  than  the  other  counties  and  where  the  population  had  not 
returned  in  sufficient  numbers  last  year  to  enable  us  to  work  on  the  same 
basis  as  in  our  other  four  counties.  We  have  a  balance  on  hand  designated 
for  poultry  amounting  to  118,923.05  francs,  which  can  be  used  for  this 
purpose  and  for  further  intensive  training  in  chicken  farming. 


Farm  Colonies 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  414,661.90 

Sales  and  reimbursements  -  -  369,225.04 


Net  expenditures  -  45,436.86 


We  have  had  three  farm  colonies — Bretouville,  LaTroche,  Villeneuve  la 
Huree.  These  three  farms,  on  which  fifteen  families  have  lived  and  worked, 
were  financed  by  loans  from  the  Government,  of  170,000.00  francs  under 
the  Compere  Morel  law.  Two  of  the  farms,  LaTroche  and  Bretouville,  have 
been  re-leased  to  farmers  who  have  assumed  the  loan  from  the  Government, 
at  a  net  profit  to  the  Committee  of  4,000  francs.  The  third  farm,  Ville¬ 
neuve  la  Huree,  situated  in  the  Seine  et  Marne  and  comprising  450  acres,  is 
being  operated  by  five  refugee  families  under  the  direction  of  our  Director 
of  Agriculture.  We  retain  this  farm  for  the  present  because  it  is  producing 
stock,  crops,  seeds  and  poultry  for  our  farming  syndicates.  The  chicken 
farm  and  some  of  the  best  stallions  which  we  owned  at  Bretouville,  have 


been  transferred  to  Villeneuve,  and  represent  an  important  item  in  our 

.  ,  III 

inventory. 


■H,  /si 


27 


Construction  and  Reparation 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -  580,557.95 

Refunds  -----  101,981.24 


Net  expenditures  -  468,576.71 

In  February  of  1919  the  Committee  workshop  at  Blerancourt  was  in  its 
infancy.  The  inhabitants  were  returning  rapidly  to  Blerancourt  and  the 
Government  had  not  begun  provisional  repairs  in  the  county  of  Coucy. 
Among  those  returning  were  many  masons  and  carpenters.  We  installed 
machinery  and  supplies  in  a  partially  destroyed  building  which  had  served 
as  a  factory  for  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  before  the  war.  We 
roofed  it  with  tar  paper,  immobilized  a  Cleveland  tractor  to  operate  the 
saw  mill,  and  very  soon  this  workshop  became  a  beehive  of  activity.  The 
net  expenditures  represent  the  installation  of  machinery  in  the  workshop 
amounting  to  112,944  francs;  the  reparation  of  79  houses,  three  churches, 
three  schools;  the  manufacture  of  450  school  desks,  construction  of  eight 
barracks  and  of  the  barracks  for  our  Blerancourt  and  Vic  field  centers; 
construction  of  four  houses  of  cement  and  wood  at  Guny  where  we  employed 
masons  and  carpenters  of  that  village.  These  four  houses  were  constructed 
at  the  request  of  the  proprietors,  who  are  reimbursing  the  Committee  for 
the  cost.  At  Blerancourt  we  have  steadily  employed  35  masons  and  car¬ 
penters  of  the  region  and,  with  the  aid  of  80  German  prisoners,  have  made 
many  provisional  repairs  on  the  houses  in  the  Commune.  Our  trucks  were 
employed  in  collecting  wood  found  in  the  region,  which  had  been  cut  for  the 
use  of  the  armies.  This  wood  was  measured  by  an  agent  of  the  Government 
and  part  of  it  purchased  by  the  Committee;  part  of  it  was  a  gift  from 
Colonel  Bougon  of  St.  Paul  aux  Bois,  as  an  expression  of  gratitude  for  the 
repairs  we  had  made  on  the  Church  of  that  village.  Our  refund  of 
101,981.24  francs  represents  reimbursements  made  to  us  by  the  Government 
for  repairs  to  houses.  In  every  case  the  accounts  and  accomplishment  have 
been  verified  by  the  state  architect.  Although  fifty  building  co-operatives 
have  been  formed  in  our  four  counties,  these  co-operatives  have  as  yet  made 
no  progress  beyond  the  fact  that  Government  architects  and  Government 
experts  have  verified  the  amount  of  losses  sustained  and  have  ascertained 
the  amount  of  war  damages  to  which  each  community  is  entitled  for  recon¬ 
struction.  Actually,  there  is  not  the  transport,  men  or  materials  in  France, 
to  enable  the  contractors  who  have  made  bids  for  these  blocks  in  building 
co-operatives  to  commence  reconstruction.  Further  than  that,  France  can¬ 
not  begin  definite  reconstruction  on  a  big  scale  until  her  national  credit  is 
assured.  Fortunately,  the  winter  of  1919-20  was  without  extreme  cold  and 
the  suffering,  while  it  has  been  intense,  has  not  been  a  menace  to  life.  But 
if  shelter  cannot  be  provided  before  next  winter,  which  seems  doubtful,  and 
if  the  winter  should  prove  to  be  intensely  cold,  there  will  be  an  extremely 
critical  condition  in  the  entire  devastated  area. 

The  Department  of  the  Aisne  is  particularly  fortunate  in  having  stone 
quarries  of  great  value.  In  the  last  two  months  these  quarries  have  been 
opened  and  are  being  worked  to  a  small  extent.  The  debris  in  every  village 
must  first  be  carried  off  and  the  new  stone,  wood  and  other  supplies  brought 
in  by  railroad  or  truck,  which  entails  an  amount  of  labor  and  expense  the 
Government  is  not  prepared  to  meet. 


28 


PERMANENT  ACTIVITIES 


These  are  sub-divided  into 

Children’s  Colony  at  Boullay  Thierry 

Medical  Work  and  Hospital 

Child  Hygiene 

Education 

Recreation 

Community  Centers 


Boullay  Thierry 

The  Children’s  Colony  at  Boullay  Thierry  has  sheltered,  fed  and 
educated  92  little  victims  of  the  war,  boys  and  girls,  and  provided  a  home 
atmosphere  which  has  effaced  the  terrible  memories  of  war.  This  mixed 
colony  of  boys  and  girls  was  experimental.  Co-education  had  not  been  tried 
in  France,  and  the  French  were  doubtful,  but  Monsieur  Lapie,  Director  of 
Primary  Education  for  France,  was  absolutely  converted  to  the  idea,  “Pro¬ 
vided  there  was  American  direction  of  the  school.”  It  is  the  finest  intensive 
piece  of  work  we  have  accomplished.  In  1917  when  we  gathered  about  us 
twelve  or  fourteen  children  in  the  dispensary  ward  of  Blerancourt,  we 
realized  that  such  practical  form  of  intensive  child  welfare  work  on  a 
larger  scale  would  be  of  immense  value  to  France.  The  net  expenditure  of 
190,437.53  francs  represents  147,588.61  for  food,  clothing,  school  equip¬ 
ment,  dispensary  care,  manual  training,  corrective  exercises  and  cinema, 
games,  books,  heating  and  lighting,  and  the  salaries  of  the  French  teaching 
staff  and  domestics.  The  sum  of  42,848.92  was  administered  for  children 
adopted  by  friends  in  America.  In  July  of  last  year  fourteen  of  the  boys 
and  girls  received  school  certificates,  thirty  received  first  communion.  It  is 
a  little  world  by  itself,  seriously  engaged  in  turning  out  the  type  of  young 
men  and  women  on  whom  depends  the  future  of  France.  Serious  study 
was  interrupted  by  fetes  from  time  to  time;  May  day  fete  and  a  religious 
fete  on  Corpus  Christi  Sunday,  Christmas  fete,  and  after  the  termination  of 
the  school  year  four  groups  of  twenty  each  were  given  a  sight-seeing  trip 
to  Paris.  The  value  of  the  spirit  and  training  to  these  children  at  Boullay 
Thierry  is  indisputable.  The  Chateau  in  which  we  have  installed  the  Colony 
was  loaned  to  us  by  the  Government;  this  year  the  Government  arranged  to 
sell  it  and,  to  our  great  regret,  we  are  closing  it  after  the  completion  of 
the  school  year  in  July.  Those  children  who  have  been  adopted  and  for 
whom  we  have  still  specially  designated  monies,  amounting  to  28,471.79 
francs,  will  be  followed  by  the  committee  to  their  future  homes  and  the 
relations,  we  hope,  will  continue  between  the  god-parents  and  the  children. 
Monsieur  Gaulier,  the  Director  of  the  School,  has  very  wisely  included  in 
his  classes  a  course  on  America.  Every  child  is  a  Franco-American  student, 
eager  to  learn  of  the  great  country  which  has  so  befriended  them. 

The  Colony  has  been  the  admiration  of  the  French  authorities  and  we 
should  like  to  pay  a  special  tribute  of  thanks  to  the  Prefet  of  the  Eure  et  Loir 
who  has  been  unfailing  in  his  courtesy,  kindness  and  sympathy.  We  also 
owe  a  very  special  tribute  of  thanks  to  the  American  Women’s  HospitaLs 

29 


which  has  had  the  supervision  of  the  health  of  the  children,  to  Dr.  Fair¬ 
banks,  who  performed  sixty  operations  for  Tonsilectomy  in  one  day,  and  to 
Dr.  Doherty  for  the  care  of  the  children’s  teeth  and  for  instruction  in  dental 
hygiene. 

Medical  Work  and  Hospital 

A  new  expenditure  of  10,039.15  francs  represents  the  first  outlay  by 
the  American  Committee  for  medical  supplies  in  the  early  part  of  the  fiscal 
year,  1919-1920.  The  affiliation  which  the  A.  C.  D.  F.  has  so  long  enjoyed 
with  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  and  the  establishment  by  this  latter 
organization  of  a  splendidly  equipped  hospital  as  Blerancourt,  has  relieved 
our  own  organization  of  this  very  imperative  relief  work  in  our  region.  I 
have  asked  Dr.  Lovejoy,  Chairman  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals,  to 
present  her  own  report  of  this  work,  which  it  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  insert 
at  this  point. 


Report  of  Dr.  Lovejoy 

To  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France: 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Board  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  on 
April  1,  1920,  the  following  motion  was  adopted: 

It  was  moved  by  Dr.  Wallin  and  seconded  by  Dr.  Radcliff  that  the  hospital 
at  Blerancourt,  fully  equipped  including  ambulances  and  our  interest  in  the 
barracks,  be  given  to  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France,  and  that  the 
Chairman  be  instructed  to  express  the  appreciation  of  the  Board  of  the  American 
Women’s  Hospitals  to  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  for  the 
opportunity  which  was  afforded  the  organized  medical  women  of  America  to  demon¬ 
strate  their  ability,  during  the  war,  in  a  field  of  relief  service.  This  motion  was 
carried. 

At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Medical  Women’s  National  Association  following 
the  declaration  by  Congress  that  a  state  of  war  existed  between  the  United  States 
and  Germany,  a  War  Service  Committee  was  appointed  by  the  president  of  the 
Medical  Women’s  National  Association,  the  purpose  being  to  offer,  in  an  organized 
way,  the  work  of  American  medical  women.  Under  the  law  of  the  United  States, 
medical  women  were  not  eligible  for  Commissions  or  qualified  to  serve  in  the  army 
in  capacity  for  which  they  had  been  fitted  by  professional  training.  The  War 
Service  Committee  of  the  Medical  Women’s  National  Association  was  appointed  for 
the  purpose  of  finding  a  way  to  put  these  professional  forces  in  the  field. 

The  name  American  Women’s  Hospitals  was  suggested  by  the  Scottish  Women’s 
Hospitals  conducted  by  British  medical  women  during  the  earlier  part  of  the  war. 
Large  numbers  of  highly  qualified  medical  women  registered  for  overseas  service 
and  were  anxious  to  do  their  utmost  in  this  service.  The  need  was  urgent;  the 
units  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  were  ready;  the  funds  had  been  raised; 
and  the  women  were  waiting  when  the  call  came  from  the  American  Committee 
for  Devastated  France  asking  that  a  hospital,  staffed  by  women,  be  established 
in  co-operation  with  their  work  in  the  Department  of  the  Aisne. 

This  was  the  first  opportunity  that  had  been  afforded  the  organized  medical 
women  of  the  United  States  to  conduct  a  hospital  in  the  war  zone,  and  every 
medical  woman  who  knows  the  history  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  will 
always  have  a  feeling  of  gratitude  toward  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated 
France  for  making  it  possible  for  this  group  of  medical  women  to  do  the  work 
for  which  they  were  so  well  qualified. 

The  efficient  service  of  this  unit  not  only  relieved  human  suffering  at  a  time 
and  place  where  human  suffering  was  probably  greater  than  any  other  place  in  the 
world,  but  it  raised  the  prestige  of  medical  women  and  established  a  high  standard 
for  future  units  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals. 


The  hospital  service  was  first  installed  in. a  chateau  at  Neufmoutiers  and  after¬ 
ward  moved  to  a  chateau  at  Luzancy  and  finally  to  Blerancourt. 

Fifty-five  dispensary  centers  were  established  in  connection  with  the  central 
hospital;  198  villages  were  cared  for;  883  surgical  operations  were  performed;  and 
over  22,000  people,  who  were  sick  and  in  distress,  were  treated  by  the  medical 
women  connected  with  this  unit. 

Practically  all  of  the  members  of  American  Women’s  Hospitals  Unit  No.  1 
who  served  at  Luzancy  and  Blerancourt  were  decorated  by  the  French  Government 
in  recognition  of  their  skill  and  devotion. 

The  Executive  Board  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  is  pleased  to  learn 
that  arrangements  have  been  made  by  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated 
France,  with  the  Mayor  and  Council  of  Blerancourt  to  place  a  tablet  in  the  town 
hall  commemorating  the  relief  work  done  in  that  district  by  Unit  No.  1  of  the 
American  Women’s  Hospitals. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

ESTHER  LOVE  JOY, 

Chairman. 

The  American  Committee  is  extremely  regretful  that  this  active  co-opera¬ 
tion  in  the  devastated  area  has  had  to  cease.  To  Dr.  Hurrell,  Dr.  Bonness, 
the  Directors  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospital  and  their  staff,  the  inhab¬ 
itants  of  our  four  counties  will  never  cease  to  be  grateful.  The  splendid 
gift  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals  has  enabled  us  to  make  an  arrange¬ 
ment  with  the  medical  doctors  of  the  region  whereby  we  can  insure  hospital¬ 
ization  for  medical  and  surgical  cases.  The  French  medical  profession  has 
suffered  many  losses  during  the  war.  The  old  country  practitioners  who 
were  not  mobilized  on  account  of  age  have  secured  practices  elsewhere  and 
have  left  gaps  in  the  devastated  area  which  our  hospital  has  replaced. 
In  the  county  of  Vic  and  the  county  of  Anizy,  in  agreement  with 
the  Mayors  of  Vic-sur-Aisne  and  Apizy,  we  have  secured  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  two  French  doctors  for  these  two  counties.  For  a  salary  of  300 
francs  per  month  from  the  American  Committee,  in  addition  to  the  800 
francs  monthly  subsidy  given  by  the  Government,  the  doctors  have  been 
able  to  accept  practice  in  the  devastated  area.  They  give  us  two  free  con¬ 
sultations  a  week  and  are  on  the  hospital  staff  as  visiting  doctors.  Dr. 
Leopold  Chauveau  of  the  American  Hospital  at  Neuilly  has  accepted  a 
position  with  our  hospital  as  surgeon  in  residence. 


Child  Hygiene 

Net  expenditures,  9,710.35  francs. 

This  amount  by  no  means  represents  the  outlay  in  this  department. 
Supplementary  gifts,  in  addition  to  our  supplies  sent  from  America,  have 
been  received  from  the  American  Red  Cross,  Free  Milk  for  France,  Food 
for  France,  Service  de  Sante,  Ministry  of  War,  and  the  Rockefeller  Founda¬ 
tion.  These  Societies  combined  have  contributed  gifts  amounting  to 
150,000  francs,  which  item  does  not  appear  in  our  financial  statements. 
Important  gifts  of  sugar,  olive  oil,  maltine,  malted  milk  and  babies’  cloth¬ 
ing  from  our  own  Committees  in  America  have  also  been  distributed  by  this 
department.  It  has  enabled  the  American  Committee  Public  Health  Depart¬ 
ment  to  provide  clmics,  proper  medical  inspection  and  care,  and  increased 
alimentation  for  2,030  children  and  91  prenatal  cases,  bringing  the  total  to 
2,127  children  and  91  mothers  in  our  four  counties. 


31 


The  first  carpenter  shop  in  the  Department  of  the  Aisne  after  the  Armistice  was  established  by  the  American  Committee.  Employ¬ 
ment  is  given  to  many  returned  soldiers,  ruined  homes  are  repaired,  and  much  needed  furniture  is  manufactured 


This  department  was  first  organized  in  the  county  of  Vic,  then  in 
Soissons  and  Coucy  and  last  in  Anizy.  To  develop  this  work  and 
to  establish  it  on  a  permanent  basis  under  the  direction  of  Mrs.  Mary 
Breckenridge  is  one  of  the  aims  of  the  American  Committee.  In  the  recent 
elections,  the  Government  appointed  a  special  Ministry  of  Public  Health 
which,  together  with  the  Department  of  Public  Health  of  the  Liberated 
Regions,  is  watching  our  experiment  in  child  hygiene  with  great  interest  and 
inspectors  have  been  sent  to  study  the  methods  we  are  applying  that  they 
may  be  adopted  in  other  Departments.  Mrs.  Breckinridge  has  a  staff  of 
three  French  nurses,  from  the  Florence  Nightingale  School  at  Bordeaux, 
and  as  quickly  as  nurses  are  graduated  from  this  hospital  we  hope  to  employ 
them  in  our  own  region,  or  develop  our  methods  in  other  devastated  regions 
under  the  supervision  of  graduates  of  the  Bordeaux  Hospital.  In  our  own 
communities  we  quickly  learned  that  the  babies  had  not  be^n  given  a  chance 
to  live.  There  is  a  greater  chance  of  death  in  being  born  in  these  ruined 
homes  than  in  going  “over  the  top.”  We  are  so  accustomed  to  the  sacrifice 
of  infants  all  over  the  world,  every  year,  that  we  seldom  reckon  with  it  as  a 
special  liability  of  a  nation  at  war.  Again  and  again  in  questioning  women 
about  the  causes  of  their  babies’  death  we  have  received  the  inevitable 
answer,  “What  do  I  know,  there  was  no  doctor,  we  were  evacuated,  he 
caught  cold,  he  had  no  milk,”  and  on  the  records  we  inscribe,  “Died  from 
privations  of  war.”  There  is,  after  all,  nothing  new  in  this  tragedy,  except 
the  extent  of  it,  and  we  feel  the  responsibility  for  the  babies  and  children 
of  France  heavily  upon  us  until  such  time  as  France  has  the  personnel  to 
give  to  this  all  absorbing,  complex  problem  of  the  preservation  of  her  race. 

We  began  this  work  in  the  Aisne  almost  experimentally.  It  literally  grew 
out  of  the  great  need  and  came  in  response  to  the  people’s  demand  for  our 
help.  From  the  beginning  it  was  in  the  hands  of  trained  personnel  and  as  the 
desire  for  it  spread  the  work  kept  pace  with  the  desire.  There  was  no 
doctor  in  the  county  then,  but  one  of  the  American  Women’s  Hospitals’  doc¬ 
tors  has  always  given  her  invaluable  assistance.  Now  these  same  babies, 
smiling  and  lusty,  like  the  happy  ending  of  a  fairy  tale,  come  to  the  Vic 
clinics  with  so  many  others  that  over  fifty  have  attended  from  four  villages 
in  a  single  morning.  Now  there  are  eight  centers  in  each  of  three  of  our 
four  counties,  and  six  in  the  fourth,  \\j;here  nurses’  clinics  for  babies  and 
debilitated  children  are  held  bi-monthly  and  there  is  no  sick  person  nor 
young  baby  so  remote  that  our  nurses  do  not  reach  their  homes. 


Translation 

To  Mrs.  A.  M.  Dike,  President, 

American  Committee  for  Devastated  France. 

Madame: 

Thanks  to  you  and  to  the  activity  and  devotion  of  your  fellow-workers,  the 
American  Committee  for  Devastated  France  has  realized  veritable  miracles. 

For  this,  France,  as  a  nation,  is  grateful  to  you. 

But  I  wish  to  thank  you  especially  and  to  express  my  personal  gratitude  to 
your  contributors  in  America  for  the  work  which  you  have  accomplished  by  the 
organization  of  baby  clinics,  supplementary  luncheons  for  school  children,  and 
kindergartens,  in  your  counties,  which  have  undergone  the  severest  hardships. 

83 


It  may  be  that  the  enormity  of  the  disaster  caused  by  war  upon  an  eighth  of 
our  entire  territory,  is  not  realized  by  our  dear  friends  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
necessary  to  have  seen  with  your  own  eyes  our  industrial  centers  and  our  villages 
once  so  prosperous,  now  completely  destroyed;  it  is  necessary  to  have  seen  our 
fields  formerly  so  fertile,  now  transformed  into  desert  wastes,  packed  with  shell 
holes  and  where  not  one  farm-house  stands  intact,  not  one  cluster  of  trees;  it  is 
necessary  to  have  seen  all  this  to  comprehend  that  with  her  1,300,000  dead  and  her 
millions  mutilated  and  wounded,  France  is  the  real  victim  of  the  world  war.  It  is 
practically  on  her  soil  alone  that  the  fiercest  battles  of  the  war  were  waged. 

A  real  need  exists,  therefore,  to  aid  her  in  the  staunching  of  her  wounds.  The 
crying  need  is  to  help  the  new  generation  which  is  ill  prepared  to  stand  alone.  Do 
not  abandon  it.  We  have  in  the  devastated  regions  200,000  children  whose  sufferings 
at  the  hands  of  the  Germans  were  frightful.  The  hardships  which  they  endured 
during  the  four  long  years  have  arrested  their  development.  Many  have  con¬ 
tracted  tuberculosis.  The  very  little  children  lack,  even  now,  nutritious  food  and 
especially  milk.  Throughout  this  entire  stretch  of  country  the  German  army  did 
not  leave  one  single  cow,  nor  even  a  goat.  Had  it  not  been  for  American  Relief 
Organizations,  all  of  them  would  have  died.  Continue,  therefore,  to  watch  over 
them.  Help  us  in  our  care  of  them.  Tell  your  friends  of  their  distress.  Tell  them 
also  of  our  tremendous  gratitude  for  the  noble  effort  which  they  have  made  to 
preserve  the  lives  of  these  innocent  victims,  and  believe  me 

Most  respectfully  yours, 

CALMETTE, 

Member  of  the  Academy  of  Medicine, 

Pasteur  Institute,  25  rue  Dutot,  Paris  XV. 


Education 

Expenditure,  80,590.25  francs. 

We  have  equipped  65  schools  and  four  schools  of  domestic  science.  For 
the  equipment  of  schools,  the  American  Committee  has  donated  450  school 
benches,  constructed  from  oak  or  ash  wood  taken  from  the  trenches  and 
converted  into  school  desks,  the  model  of  which  was  approved  by  the 
inspector  of  schools  for  the  Department.  In  the  forge  of  our  workshop  at 
Blerancourt,  ordinary  lead,  found  in  the  region,  was  melted  and  little  ink 
stands  made  for  each  desk.  The  cost  to  us  of  each  desk  was  approximately 
52  francs,  whereas  the  purchase  price  in  Paris  of  school  desks  was  80  francs. 
The  450  school  desks  were  gifts  chiefly  to  the  schools  in  the  counties  of 
Coucy  and  Anizy.  A  few  were  given  to  the  counties  of  Vic  and  Soissons. 
The  field  centers  in  the  latter  two  counties  equipped  the  schools  with  desks 
at  the  request  of  the  Mayor  of  the  Commune.  The  desks  were  purchased  in 
Paris  at  approximately  80  francs  each  and  the  field  centers  were  reimbursed 
by  those  communities  which  still  had  funds  for  this  municipal  service.  Our 
gift  of  school  desks  and  equipment  was  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  the  small 
remote  villages  where  the  Mayor  and  Municipal  Council,  in  other  words, 
the  civic  authorities,  had  not  returned.  Apart  from  the  school  desks  the 
equipment  consisted  of  slates,  slate  pencils,  copy  books,  grammar,  history, 
maps  and  atlas.  In  addition,  evening  classes  are  held  in  the  county  of  Coucy 
and  Vic  for  boys  and  girls  over  the  school  age,  who  have  been  deprived  of 
schooling  during  the  years  of  German  occupation.  In  the  County  of  Bleran¬ 
court  we  have  an  attendance  of  over  150  boys  and  girls  at  these  evening 
classes,  and  in  the  county  of  Vic  approximately  50  boys  and  girls.  Here 

84 


again  we  have  a  distinct  Franco- American  effort,  the  classes  in  the  county 
of  Coucy  being  conducted  by  Miss  Conway  and  Mile.  Henneguy;  in  the 
county  of  Vic  by  Miss  Adams  and  by  Monsieur  Bonn,  the  Vic  school  teacher. 

Domestic  Science  Schools 

To  teach  the  girls  sewing,  plain  cooking,  economics,  washing  and  ironing, 
seven  domestic  science  schools  have  been  opened.  Four  of  these  domestic 
science  schools  have  been  established  in  the  county  of  Vic  with  a  total  attend¬ 
ance  of  572  girls.  At  our  field  center  of  Coucy  le  Chateau  classes  have  been 
opened  for  girls  over  the  school  age  up  to  19;  7  different  Communes  are 
represented,  with  a  total  attendance  of  40.  We  cannot  give  a  fixed  price 
for  the  installation  of  every  domestic  science  school,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
daily  school,  it  depends  entirely  on  whether  or  not  we  can  find  a  building 
suitable  for  this  purpose.  Sometimes  it  has  been  necessary  for  the  American 
Committee,  in  order  to  achieve  its  purpose,  to  repair  some  building  and  ask 
for  the  privilege  of  holding  the  classes  in  the  same;  at  other  times  the 
Ministry  of  the  Liberated  Regions  has  been  able  to  give  us  barracks.  The 
equipment  of  a  domestic  science  school  consists  of  a  large  cooking  stove, 
kitchen  utensils,  knives  and  forks,  sewing  machines,  a  constant  supply  of 
sewing  materials,  and  flat  materials  to  be  converted  into  garments,  and 
supplies  of  food  for  cooking  classes.  A  large  stock  of  sugar,  which  we  were 
able  to  purchase  from  the  American  Liquidation  Stock,  has  been  used  for 
the  gouters  and  for  the  domestic  science  cooking  classes,  or  for  the  Depart¬ 
ment  of  Public  Health,  where  a  gift  of  sugar  to  the  children  is  of  decided 
value  for  the  increased  alimentation  usually  prescribed  by  the  directress. 

Kindergartens 

We  owe  a  special  tribute  of  thanks  to  Miss  Fannibelle  Curtis,  Chair¬ 
man  of  the  Jardin  d’Enfants,  for  her  co-operation  in  our  department  of 
education  for  the  county  of  Vic.  For  many  months  Miss  Curtis  has  supplied 
our  Vic  field  center  with  kindergarten  teachers  and  chauffeurs,  as  well  as 
with  a  Ford  truck  and  kindergarten  supplies.  It  would  be  impossible  to 
estimate  the  value  of  this  special  department.  Kindergarten  classes  have 
been  operating  at  Vic  and  in  ten  of  the  villages  of  this  county.  The  smaller 
children  are  grouped  together,  and  are  taught  how  to  march,  sing,  play, 
draw  and  recite  in  group.  In  almost  every  case  this  tiny  son  or  daughter 
of  France  has  learned  that  he  is  not  alone  in  the  world,  and  that,  together 
with  the  group,  he  or  she  can  accomplish  an  effective  piece  of  work.  It 
reveals  to  him  all  the  richness  of  imagination  and  the  means  of  execution. 
One  of  the  prettiest  sights  is  to  see  a  kindergarten  instructor  surrounded  by 
these  tiny  tots,  either  in  a  prettily  decorated  room  or  out  of  doors,  and  watch 
the  children  singing  cheerful  songs  to  the  sound  of  the  phonograph,  while 
a  few  of  the  older  inhabitants  gather  around  and  enjoy  it  fully  as  much 
as  the  little  ones. 

Recreation 

The  psychological  effect  of  gathering  together  the  grown-ups,  as  well 
as  the  children  for  Christmas  fetes,  religious  fetes  or  organized  sports,  is 
indisputable.  They  seem  to  throw  off  their  cares  and,  forgetful  of  the 

35 


One  of  the  many  schools  equipped  by  the  American  Committee.  These  chil¬ 
dren  have  been  physically  restored  by  the  help  of  the  daily  “gouters.” 

The  temporary  schoolhouse  in  the  background  was  a  German 

bomb-proof  dugout 


Through  physical  exercise  and  play  the  American  Committee  is  helping  these 
children  to  “forget.”  Gradually  the  rounded  shoulders  straighten  and 
the  children  are  learning  to  smile  for  the  first  time  in  five  years 


severity  of  the  German  regime,  enter  whole-heartedly  into  the  spirit  of  the 
hour.  It  affords  the  occasion  for  hours  of  cheerful  talk  which  dissipates 
unfortunate  memories  and,  by  means  of  recreation  we  can  arrive  at  the 
group  spirit  easier  than  by  any  other  method. 

On  the  21st  of  July,  1919,  the  American  Committee  invited  inhabitants 
of  the  counties  of  Coucy  and  Anizy  to  a  victory  fete  at  Coucy  le  Chateau. 
For  the  first  time  since  pre-war  days,  these  repatriates  had  an  opportunity 
to  discuss  among  themselves  all  that  had  happened  since  1914.  From  some 
remote  village  in  the  county  of  Coucy  they  rushed  to  the  fete  to  meet  friends 
from  another  remote  village  in  the  county  of  Anizy.  Under  a  magnificent 
blue  sky,  listening  to  the  military  bands  of  the  American  Army  and  the 
French  Army,  watching  the  merry-go-round  and  target  practice,  they  spent 
four  hours  of  unalloyed  joy.  It  proved  to  be  the  inspiration  of  an  exhausted 
population  to  further  effort.  The  formation  of  syndicates,  elections  and  the 
welfare  of  the  two  counties,  were  seriously  discussed  by  the  older  men. 
apprehension  was  forgotten,  and  this  fete  instilled  into  them  the  realization 
that,  by  some  means  or  other,  through  the  American  Committee,  the  desert 
of  the  battle  fields  could  be  converted  into  thriving  communities.  An  incon¬ 
ceivable  amount  of  good  was  accomplished. 

We  wish  to  express  a  special  word  of  thanks  to  the  Knights  of  Columbus 
for  their  co-operation  with  the  American  Committee  on  this  occasion,  and 
for  their  untiring  interest  in  establishing  and  organizing  sports  for  boys  and 
girls,  as  well  as  for  their  great  generosity  on  every  occasion  when  we 
appealed  to  them  for  assistance  for  some  religious  fete. 

Christmas  celebrations  in  our  four  counties,  as  well  as  at  Boullay 
Thierry,  have  had  the  same  desired  effect.  By  this  means  we  have  effaced, 
as  much  as  possible,  the  appalling  loneliness  of  the  situation  and  brought  to 
the  people  a  message,  not  only  from  the  Interior  of  France,  but  straight 
from  America.  The  League  of  Combattants,  of  which  Mr.  Clemenceau  is 
President,  and  Mr.  Binet-Valmer,  Vice-President,  visited  our  region  during 
the  Christmas  preparation.  They  were  so  impressed  by  the  effort  of  the 
American  Committee  to  provide  some  Christmas  joy  in  the  destroyed  area 
that  the  Vice-President  immediately  began  a  campaign  in  France  for  toys 
and  sweets  to  be  distributed  in  other  devastated  departments.  In  less  than 
a  week  over  200,000  gifts  poured  into  the  League’s  headquarters,  and  we 
co-operated  by  lending  the  American  Committee  trucks  to  carry  the  toys 
into  the  north,  east,  and  immediate  centers  of  the  devastation.  Eight  trips 
were  made  by  our  three-ton  trucks.  Before  leaving  Paris  we  were  asked 
by  the  Pathe  Cinema  to  proceed  around  the  Champs  Elysees  that  the  trucks 
might  be  filmed,  bearing  inscriptions  in  immense  letters  of  the  League  de 
Combattants  on  one  side,  and  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated 
France  on  the  other.  These  films  were  shown  in  230  cinemas  in  Paris  and 
countless  cinemas  in  the  provinces.  The  Vice-President,  by  his  articles  in 
the  newspapers,  awakened  an  immense  amount  of  interest  in  the  interior  of 
France  to  the  great  need  of  Relief  organization  in  the  devastated  area,  and 
from  this  initial  effort,  due  to  the  co-operation  between  the  French  Legion 
of  ex-soldiers  and  the  American  Committee,  there  sprang  into  existence  sev¬ 
eral  French  relief  organizations.  Every  man,  woman  and  child  in  our  four 
counties  participated  in  the  Christmas  celebrations. 

37 


It  is  an  often-heard  sentiment  from  some  of  our  overseas  personnel  that 
they  are  glad  to  see  Paris,  or  return  to  America,  in  order  to  rest  the  mind 
from  the  horrible  desolation  of  our  destroyed  area.  If  the  woods  had  been 
left  untouched  and  the  trees  were  not  mere  shafts  or  stumps,  if  the  fields 
were  ploughed  and  filled  with  the  color  of  growing  grain,  one  might  be  able 
to  forget  the  appearance  of  the  ruins.  If  some  vestige  of  the  former  imper¬ 
ishable  beauty  of  the  churches  still  remained,  it  would  add  to  the  color  of 
these  regions.  But  none  of  these  things  are  left  intact,  and  after  a  few 
months’  residence  in  our  four  counties  one  thirsts  and  longs  to  see  some 
beautiful  object  on  which  the  eyes  can  rest.  In  the  poorest  quarter  of  any 
great  city  the  small  child  wandering  in  the  streets  is  able  to  feast  his  eyes 
upon  color  and  form  in  a  shop  window.  In  our  region  color  and  form  have 
become  lost  or  so  distorted  that  the  imagination  is  never  stimulated;  life 
would  be  dull  and  dreary  without  photographs,  cinemas,  kindergartens, 
books ;  in  fact,  all  the  life  we  are  able  to  bring  them. 

Community  Centers 

*  *  ' 

To  meet  the  crying  need  of  the  people  for  recreation,  reading,  confer¬ 
ences,  or  cinema  performances,  to  lighten  the  deariness  of  their  lives,  we 
made  a  beginning  at  Urcel  and  have  recently  opened  foyers  or  clubs  for  the 
young  pople  at  Ambleny,  St.  Bandry,  Vic  and  Blerancourt.  The  Com¬ 
mittee  provides  the  barracks  for  these  clubs,  the  municipality  co-operates  in 
giving  the  necessary  ground  for  the  barrack  and  playground.  The  installa¬ 
tion  comprises  books,  a  piano  or  phonograph,  writing  paper,  tables,  chairs, 
games  or  a  cinema.  The  Club  itself,  however,  is  organized  by  the  munici¬ 
pality.  The  purchase  price  of  the  barrack  varies.  We  were  able  to  purchase 
from  the  liquidation  of  stock  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  two  barracks  for  Ambleny 
and  St.  Bandry  at  approximately  7,000  francs  each.  At  Vic  we  established 
a  Club  in  a  military  barracks  until  something  better  could  replace  it,  and 
at  Blerancourt  we  have  temporarily  installed  a  Club  in  one  of  the  Committee 
barracks  until  the  new  Club,  which  is  under  construction  by  our  work-shop, 
can  be  completed.  We  called  upon  every  school  teacher  to  send  us  a  list  of 
books  for  young  and  old.  These  lists  were  sent  to  Paris  and  compared. 
Four  hundred  of  the  best  books  were  selected  and  sent  to  each  county, 
making  1,600  books  in  all.  We  requested  the  municipality  of  Ambleny  to 
draw  up  the  statutes  of  the  Club.  The  Clubs  have  asked  for  translations  of 
American  literature,  American  films  of  agriculture,  hygiene,  railroads, 
scenery  and  industrial  inventions.  They  all  want  Mr.  Roosevelt’s  photo¬ 
graph  and  American  flags.  Their  by-laws  are  interesting;  every  member 
must  be  a  Frenchman  of  good  moral  reputation,  pledge  himself  to  work  for 
the  welfare  of  the  community,  and  to  police  if  necessary.  These  Clubs  will 
eventually  be  a  source  of  tremendous  moral  influence  in  helping  the  com¬ 
munity  to  group  itself  against  the  dangerous  elements  of  foreign  labor; 
the  fees  and  dues  will  render  them  entirely  self-supporting. 

Paris  Work  Room 

FRANCS 

Expenditures  -----  46,144.60 

Reimbursements  -  46,144.60 

This  work  room  was  created  in  Paris  for  the  purpose  of  providing  work 
for  women  refugees,  of  our  own  region,  evacuated  to  Paris.  It  not  only 

88 


gave  them  employment  but  it  provided  garments  that  were  required  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  people  in  our  counties  which  we  did  not  have  and  for  which 
there  was  a  demand.  The  work  room  closed  in  the  month  of  January,  as 
the  majority  of  these  women  were  planning  to  return  to  their  homes  in  the 
devastated  area. 


Villeneuve  St.  George 

In  1918,  two  of  our  members,  Mrs.  Louis  Lehr  and  Miss  Virginia 
Latrobe,  opened  a  hostel  for  refugee  families  at  Villeneuve  St.  George,  the 
funds  for  which  were  almost  entirely  subscribed  by  friends  in  Baltimore. 
In  the  spring  of  1919,  the  majority  of  these  families  returned  to  their  own 
soil,  for  others  employment  was  found,  and  Villeneuve  St.  George  was  closed 
with  a  balance  on  hand  of  43,321.20  francs.  That  sum  was  transferred  to 
our  undesignated  funds.  We  are  still  receiving  letters  of  thanks  for  the 
kindness  and  for  the  hospitality  which  these  refugees  found  at  Villeneuve 
St.  George. 


Field  Centers 

\ 

By  this  we  mean  the  field  installation  for  the  personal  administration  by 
our  American  personnel  and  the  direction  of  relief  in  the  districts.  Each 
center  acts  as  a  relief  agency  for  its  own  county.  Each  center  also  admin¬ 
isters  the  specially  designated  monies  intended  for  distribution  in  the 
county  under  its  jurisdiction.  The  net  expenditures  in  twelve  months  for 
administration  of  the  four  centers  amounts  to  363,933.03  francs.  Special 
cases  in  the  four  counties  amounting  to  88,345  francs  have  also  been 
administered. 

If  this  report  of  the  execution  of  our  work  in  France  meets  with  your 
approval,  it  is  my  privilege  to  tell  you  that  it  could  never  have  been  accom¬ 
plished  without  the  unfailing  support  and  co-operation  of  the  Committees 
in  America.  You  may  also  attribute  the  success  to  the  spirit  and  devotion 
of  the  American  Overseas  Personnel,  particularly  to  some  of  the  older 
members  who  have  displayed  extraordinary  devotion  and  self-abnegation. 
In  the  ever-changing  phases  of  the  work,  we  have  always  found  that  the 
members  of  the  American  Overseas  Personnel  have  never  failed  to  give  their 
best  at  every  opportunity. 

An  esprit  de  corps  exists  in  the  American  Committee  which  has  won 
the  admiration  of  every  one  in  France,  and  gained  for  us  a  solidarity  of 
front  that  overcomes  all  obstacles  and  knows  nothing  of  the  word  “impos¬ 
sible.”  It  was  easy  going  during  the  war  when  millions  were  facing  in  one 
direction  with  but  one  end  in  view — to  overcome  the  enemy;  one  was 
then  inspired  to  “rapidity  of.  action.”  The  Armistice  in  1918  completed 
the  first  phase  of  this  world  tragedy.  We  entered  upon  the  second  phase 
a  little  more  than  a  year  ago,  expecting  to  return  to  happy,  care-free  pre¬ 
war  conditions  of  life,  but  we  found  we  had  entered  upon  a  phase  of  absolute 
bewilderment,  confusion  and  grave  apprehension.  “Watchfulness”  and 
“perseverance”  became  our  slogan.  By  “watchfulness”  I  mean  that  in  order 
to  understand  the  real  reconstruction  problem  we  had  to  go  back  to  the 
foundation  of  French  traditional  life. 


89 


We  have  seen  France  at  war ;  she  was  sublime.  The  common  conception 
that  France  is  sublime  only  when  she  fights  is  a  false  and  dangerous  concep¬ 
tion.  The  virtue  of  her  soldiers  is  derived  from  a  number  of  qualities  which 
have  not  been  thoroughly  understood.  Her  men  are  born  soldiers.  How 
could  it  be  otherwise?  For  centuries  her  independence  has  been  threatened, 
and  from  the  banks  of  the  Rhine  to  the  coasts  of  Normandy  the  earth  is 
fertilized  by  the  bones  of  soldiers  from  all  the  Provinces  of  Gaul.  And 
every  time  a  soldier  fell  a  widow  or  mother  wept.  This  lament  taught  the 
children  the  sacrifice  one  owes  to  one’s  country  and  created  and  upheld 
throughout  the  ages  the  war-like  spirit  of  a  free  people,  prepared  to  defend 
their  liberty,  but  knowing  nothing  of  the  spirit  of  conquest.  French  liberty 
does  not  date  from  the  revolution  of  ’89.  The  latter,  painful  as  it  was,  could 
not  be  compared  to  the  Bolshevism  of  Russia.  While  nationalization  of  the 
land  was  originally  the  foundation  of  the  Lenine-Trotsky  program,  on  the 
contrary,  the  strength  of  the  French  Convention  was  the  parcelling  of  the 
land  and  the  satisfaction  of  the  instinct  of  proprietorship.  For  these  reasons 
the  French  crisis  of  that  other  century,  in  spite  of  its  excesses,  was  not  at 
any  time  a  peril  to  humanity.  The  political  statute  of  the  nation  develops 
from  the  principles  of  the  French  revolutionaries,  principles  based  on  the 
instinct  of  the  peasant  farmers  of  France  who  love  the  soil  and  who  mingle 
the  word  “liberty”  with  the  word  “property.” 

The  French  peasant  farmer  has  remained  faithful  to  type.  He  fought 
and  died  to  defend  that  little  part  of  France  of  which  he  is  proprietor.  The 
French  Empire  saw  the  Napoleonic  eagles  appear  in  many  capitals  of  the 
old  world,  but  “imperialism”  is  not  of  French  origin  and  finds  no  echo 
whatsoever  in  the  heart  of  the  peasant.  In  his  narrow  dominion,  king  of 
his  land,  he  is  very  grateful  to  those  who  gave  him  his  rustic  throne — to  the 
leaders  of  ’89  and  to  their  descendants,  the  politicians  of  today.  During 
the  great  war  the  union  of  the  entire  race  was  accomplished  around  real 
France — one  heard  the  heart  of  one  people  beating.  At  the  end  of  the  war 
the  people  disappeared  into  silence,  the  obscurity  of  their  hedges,  their  work¬ 
rooms,  their  classrooms  or  their  Tuins.  Politicians  took  the  foreground. 
The  people  have  listened  with  respectful  attention.  While  politicians  of 
every  nation  have  been  discussing  the  terms  of  the  treaty  they  have  been 
amazed  at  the  doctrine  of  the  Supreme  Council  that  Germany’s  industrial  and 
economic  existence  must  first  be  re-established  before  France  can  be  organ¬ 
ized  on  a  peace  basis.  They  have  wondered  why  it  is  necessary  to  make  peace 
with  a  Soviet  Government  of  Russia  in  order  to  secure  the  resumption  of  the 
free  flow  of  trade  products  and  raw  materials.  These  doctrines  are  contrary 
to  the  ideals  of  the  people  who  sacrificed  their  lives  by  the  million  during 
the  war.  They  have  waited  for  some  signs  of  understanding  from  allied 
nations.  They  have  been  restrained,  confident  and  hopeful.  There  is  a 
great  distinction  in  the  administration  of  the  two  Republics.  The  President 
of  the  French  Government  has  very  little  power.  It  was  difficult  for  the 
people  to  conceive  that  their  Sister  Republic  was  governed  by  an  autocratic 
administration.  We  constantly  hear  of  the  famous  incident  of  March,  1918, 
when  the  Germans  were  at  the  very  gates  of  Paris,  and  the  French  Govern¬ 
ment  appealed  to  Washington  for  more  troops.  There  were  then  actually 
in  France  197,000  khaki-clad  American  boys.  The  French  asked  if  they 
could  depend  upon  300,000  troops  per  month— otherwise  the  situation 
would  be  grave.  The  answer  was  returned  that  if  more  were  needed  there 

40 


A  typical  family  in  one  of  the  hundred  villages  under  the  care  of  the  American 
Committee.  They  are  still  living  among  the  ruins,  because  of  lack  of 
money  and  building  materials.  This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why 
the  American  Committee  must  continue  its  work 


One  of  the  many  Rolling  Stores  operated  by  the  American 
Committee  for  Devastated  France 


would  be  more,  and  in  several  months’  time  there  were  2,000,000  Americans 
in  France!  This  the  French  have  never  forgotten  and  never  will  forget- 
It  was  a  magnificent  and  convincing  proof  of  the  whole-heartedness  of 
their  associate  in  war.  The  intervening  months  have  been  full  of  hideous 
dismay  and  serious  disquietude.  It  has  not,  however,  destroyed  their  confi¬ 
dence  in  their  own  chiefs  nor  has  their  confidence  in  the  American  people 
been  destroyed.  They  are  firm  in  the  belief  that  there  is  a  kinship  of 
national  ideals  between  the  two  Republics,  although  political  friction  and 
national  egotism  have  somewhat  obscured  the  issue.  That  the  American 
people  shall  continue  to  retain  sentiments  of  esteem  and  regard  for  them,  is 
their  desire ;  that  America  will  take  into  consideration  the  geographical 
position  of  France  and  the  weight  of  responsibility  facing  her  in  regard  to 
her  own  defense,  is  her  hope ;  to  attain  better  understanding  between  the 
two  countries  is  her  aim,  because  of  national  kinship  of  ideals — two  coun¬ 
tries  whose  people  are  ready  to  defend  ideals  and  who  abhor  the  idea  of 
fighting  for  conquest. 

Resemblance  ends  here ;  one  Republic  is  renowned  for  her  quality  of 
production,  the  younger  Republic  is  obliged  to  maintain  her  position  in  the 
industrial  world  by  quantity  rather  than  quality. 

The  leaders  of  France  know  that  fearful  inroads  have  been  made  on 
the  youth  of  France;  industrially  she  cannot  enter  into  competition;  her 
reconstruction  depends  not  only  upon  her  future  security,  but  upon  national 
credit  and  the  preservation  of  the  race.  Her  people  are  puzzled;  American 
relief  organizations  are  rapidly  closing,  the  solution  of  very  grave  problems 
of  national  safety  and  reconstruction  are  not  yet  settled,  but  the  American 
Committee  has  continued  its  work,  is  remaining,  and  will  remain,  I  hope,, 
until  such  time  as  our  presence  in  France  is  no  longer  needed.  In  my 
report  I  may  have  given  you  the  impression  that  life  has  resumed  its  normal 
course  in  our  four  counties.  This  is  not  the  case.  Take  away  the  American 
Committee,  and  our  four  counties  would  be  a  desolate  stricken  desert.  What¬ 
ever  life  is  there  is  due  to  you  and  to  us ;  it  is  the  push  necessary  to  half  of 
the  normal  population  to  protect  themselves  and  to  prepare  for  the  return  of 
other  repatriates.  Until  the  fields  are  under  cultivation,  until  the  children 
are  strong  and  well,  we  cannot  say  that  our  work  in  our  four  counties  is 
terminated.  Until  France  feels  her  safety  is  secure  and  her  national  solidar¬ 
ity  no  longer  menaced  by  Jack  of  inter-allied  consolidarity,  she  is  passing 
through  a  very  critical  period;  this  has  created  another  responsibility.  To 
France  as  a  whole  our  continued  presence  represents  to  them  that  the 
American  people  still  entertains  for  them  the  sentiment  of  good-will  and 
understanding  which  they  so  desperately  need  during  this  crisis. 

Translation 


Chambre  des  Deputes, 
Paris. 


March  1st,  1920. 


Dear  Mrs.  Dike: 

Now  that  the  time  has  come  when  you  are  about  to  sail  for  America,  I  desire,  in 
my  quality  of  former  Minister  for  the  Liberated  Regions  and  as  Honorary  President 
of  the  American  Committee  for  Devastated  France,  to  briefly  outline  what  I  con¬ 
sider  should  be  the  role  of  your  organization  in  the  future. 

42 


The  results  which  you  have  attained  in  the  four  counties  where  you  are  working 
are  summed  up  in  the  very  precise  reports  of  the  Committee.  The  figures  give  the 
material  value,  but  to  that  must  be  added  the  moral  value  which  cannot  be  expressed 
by  figures  and  which  is  beyond  calculation;  not  only  the  local  value  for  our 
courageous  inhabitants  of  the  Aisne — the  most  ruined  of  all  our  departments,  which 
has  found  precious  comfort  in  America’s  friendship — but  an  incalculable  collective 
value,  which  ensures  for  the  future,  solidarity  between  our  two  countries. 

I  therefore  hope  that  this  work  will  continue  adapting  itself  from  day  to  day, 
as  it  has  done  up  to  the  present,  to  the  ever  changing  needs  of  the  territory  Germany 
has  ruined.  America  prides  herself  in  accomplishing  whatever  she  has  undertaken. 
Your  role  has  not  yet  come  to  an  end. 

The  reconstruction  of  mutilated  France  will  take  at  least  ten  years.  This  has 
not  been  sufficiently  emphasized.  It  took  the  Germans  five  years  to  efface  every  ves¬ 
tige  of  civilization  in  our  invaded  departments.  It  will  take  France  more  than  five 
years  to  reconstruct  what  they  have  annihilated.  It  takes  less  time  for  a  gun  to 
demolish  a  house,  than  a  mason  to  erect  one.  We  have  more  than  600,000  wrecked 
houses.  Destruction  has  taken  five  years.  Reconstruction  will  take  ten. 

My  hope  is,  that  during  this  long  period,  when  one  charitable  organization  will 
succeed  another,  our  co-citizens  of  the  North  and  the  East,  who  have  suffered  so 
terribly  may  always  find  American  aid  around  them  and  above  all,  the  help  of 
those  groups  who  from  the  very  start  have  stood  by  them. 

It  is  evident  as  you  well  know  that  the  means  to  be  employed  in  the  future  are 
not  the  same  as  those  which  were  necessary  in  the  past,  and  that  for  several 
reasons. 

The  first  reason  is,  that  when  you  commenced  your  work  three  years  ago,  the 
French  law  on  war  reparations  was  not  yet  in  operation,  and  therefore  your 
charity  extended  itself  to  meeting  every  need.  To-day  that  law  is  in  force  and 
several  of  your  tasks  of  yesterday  have  now  been  taken  over  by  the  Government.  We 
must,  therefore,  avoid  complication  and  ensure  a  fair  distribution  of  the  work. 

The  second  reason  is  that  certain  branches  of  your  activities  have  produced 
results  which  will  develop  themselves  in  the  years  to  come.  For  example,  when  you 
so  quickly  procured  agricultural  implements  for  the  peasants,  you  created  a  source 
of  riches,  and  a  means  of  production,  which  will  multiply  with  time.  The  machine 
is  now  working;  we  can  have  confidence  in  it. 

The  third  reason  is  that  according  as  the  most  urgent  needs  are  satisfied,  others 
arise;  it  is  not  because  they  were  set  aside  to  give  priority  to  the  former  that  they 
are  any  the  less  legitimate  or  important.  Life  has  begun  again;  that  was  the 
essential  point,  but  life  is  expanding  every  moment  and  in  this  creation  of  new  life 
which  the  renaissance  of  the  Liberated  Regions  represents,  the  seventh  day — day  of 
rest — is  very  far  away.  Hygiene,  child-welfare,  schools,  post-scholastic  associa¬ 
tions — these  are  some  of  the  things  still  to  be  done  before  it  can  be  said  that  condi¬ 
tions  have  again  become  normal. 

That  is  why,  profoundly  convinced  as  I  am  that  the  help  of  your  Committee 
will  be  indispensable  for  many  long  years,  I  believe  that  the  form  this  help  takes 
must  of  necessity  be  gradually  modified.  It  would  be  foolish  to  pretend  to  determine 
in  advance  the  phases  and  the  details  of  this  evolution.  But  it  is  wise  to  prepare 
for  it  now  by  gathering  together  all  the  resources  which  it  will  need. 

Even  now  I  foresee  a  territorial  extension  of  your  activities  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  a  specialization  of  your  efforts.  Territorial  expansion:  I  think  that  other 
counties  may  and  should  solicit  your  intervention.  Specialization:  I  think  that 
instead  of  doing  everything  in  a  limited  zone  you  could  devote  yourself  in  a  larger 
zone  to  certain  special  tasks  such  as  I  suggested  above. 

In  order  to  establish  a  list  covering  the  most  essential  fields  of  work,  I  hope 
that  the  French  Committee  of  the  devastated  regions  which  my  dear  friend  Edouard 
de  Billy  (whom  I  regret  so  deeply)  founded  a  few  days  before  his  death,  will  in  a 
very  short  time  be  in  a  position  to  give  any  information  with  regard  to  facts  and 
figures  to  Committees  such  as  yours.  This  will  enable  you,  should  you  so  desire, 
to  extend  the  scope  of  your  work  over  a  wider  field  and  would  bring  you  into  even 
closer  contact  with  the  action  of  the  Government  in  this  problem. 

43 


That  is  the  chief  aim  I  had  in  view  in  accepting  to  become  the  President  of  that 
Committee. 

Such  is,  dear  Mrs.  Dike,  my  conception  of  the  future  that  awaits  your  organiza¬ 
tion,  if  your  fellow-countrymen  wish  to  bring  it  to  a  successful  issue,  and  I  feel 
sure  this  is  the  case.  Peace  is  as  trying  as  war  on  account  of  the  burdens  it 
imposes — more  trying  sometimes  because  of  the  psychological  conditions  under 
which  it  develops.  This  is  only  another  reason  for  increasing  our  zeal  and  safe¬ 
guarding  in  time  of  peace  the  complete  solidarity  through  which  we  won  the  war. 

I  beg  you  to  accept.  Madam,  my  gratitude  for  all  you  have  done  and  my 
respectful  friendship. 

(Signed)  ANDRE  TARDIEU. 

Two  million  dollars  is  the  limit  of  our  financial  effort  so  far  as  the 
American  Committee  is  concerned,  in  our  four  counties.  Although  we  feel 
most  sympathetic  to  the  appeal  expressed  in  our  Honorary  President’s  letter, 
in  order  to  avoid  confusion  the  American  Committee  desires  to  state  clearly 
its  intention  to  confine  the  application  of  our  campaign  funds  (not  otherwise 
designated)  to  the  territory  (four  counties)  for  which  we  have  assumed 
responsibility.  Any  expansion  of  our  effort  would  be  entirely  incidental  to 
the  development  of  either  agriculture,  education,  hygiene  or  propaganda 
already  undertaken.  It  will  enable  us  to  respond  to  the  appeal  to  help  the 
French  acquire  the  knowledge  necessary  to  replace  the  absence  of  youth  in 
her  fields,  by  American  methods  of  farming  by  machinery.  It  will  enable 
us  also  to  continue  our  work  of  social  reconstruction  so  that  it  may  become 
as  much  an  integral  part  of  the  fabric  of  French  life  as  of  England  or 
America.  In  particular,  we  want  to  preserve  for  France  that  part  of  her 
wealth  represented  in  the  lives  of  her  remaining  children.  The  generation 
that  is  rising  now  from  the  ruins  of  one  of  the  fairest  civilizations  ever 
blasted  by  war  has  a  claim  on  our  generosity  and  we  should  like  to  pay  in 
fall  measure. 

By  his  letter,  you  will  have  seen  that  our  Honorary  President  feels  that 
the  American  Committee  has  gained  a  unique  position  and  a  prestige  in 
France  which  will  be  of  incalculable  value  not  only  to  France  but  to  America. 
We  want  to  aim  at  better  Franco- American  understanding.  Not  to  do  so, 
would  be  failing  in  our  obligation  to  the  thousands  of  Americans  who  have 
sustained  our  work,  and  we  would  have  failed  in  our  moral  obligation  to  a 
civilization  of  imperishable  courage. 

(Signed)  ANNE  DIKE, 

Commissioner. 


There  is  desperate  need  of  horses  in  the  devastated  regions  for  the  farmers 
who  have  only  a  few  acres  of  land  and  cannot  afford  tractors,  as  the 
retreating  German  army  did  not  leave  a  single  horse  in  these  districts 


One  of  the  nursing  centres  of  the  American  Committee.  This  nurse  is  caring 
for  a  child  wounded  by  a  hand  grenade.  Although  much  of  the  ground 
has  been  cleared,  many  grenades  and  unexploded  shells  are 

constantly  being  found 


ETAT  DES  RECETTES 

Du  1°  Avril  1919 


RECETTES 


DONATIONS  NON  DESIGNEES: 

V  '  f"  1 

FRANCS  FRANCS 

Comite  National  . . 4,106,493.30 

Donations  a  Paris . : . ~.t .  88,900.04 

-  4,195,393.34 

DONATIONS  DESIGNEES': 


A.R.C . 

Administration  . 

Enfants:  Hygiene  . 

Ecole  Menagere 

✓  .  , 

Christmas  . 

Education  . 

Recreation  . 

Service  medical  . 

Agriculture:  Divers  . 

Betail  . 

Volailles  . 

Ferme  . 

Tracteurs  . . 

Ouvroir  . 

Automobiles  . 

Stocks  Magasins  . 

Propriety  de  Blerancourt 
Hopital  de  Blerancourt. ... 
Cas  speciaux  . 


93,576.35 
iV55, 769.85 
1  54,279.20 
.32,400.00 
80,573.30 
193,500.04 
8,517.45 
430.84 
50,147.46 
57,390.49 
121,759.63 
13,071.44 
96.75 
22,428.00 
17,545.10 
20,856.95 
90,000.00 
56,598.05 
222,141.13 


<* 

k'T“ 


\ 


1,190,782.03 


Total  des  Donations .  5,386,175.37 

Yentes  et  Remboursements .  3,019,465.34 

Avences  de  l’Etat  Francais  .  170,000.00 

Interets  des  Eonds  En  Banque .  9,871.58 

Total  des  Recettes .  8,585,512.29 


Especes  en  caisse  au  1°  Avril,  1919 .  550,264.33 

TOTAL . . .  9,135,776.62 


ET  DES  DEPENSES 


au  31  Mars  1920 


DEPENSES 


FRANCS 

Administration  .  663,005.45 

Enfants:  Hygiene  .  16,853.55 

Ecole  Menagere  . .  38,387.58 

Christmas  .  29,681.30 

Education  .  286,616.48 

Recreation  .  9,511.30 

Service  Medical  .  18,217.05 

Agriculture:  Divers  .  128,536.18 

Betail  . 152,702.02 

V  dailies  .  178,369.95 

Ferme  . 339,661.90 

Tracteurs  .  511,123.05 

Semences  .  391,087.15 

Ouvroir  . 89,465.80 

Atelier  de  Construction  .  580,557.95 

Automobiles  . v  869,832.98 

Stock  Magasins  .  2,695,378.11 

Propriety  de  Blerancourt .  37,912.00 

Hopital  de  Blerancourt .  48,259.76 

Cas  speciaux  .  209,331.69 


Remboursement  sur  avances  de  l'Etat 


Disponibilities  au  31  Mars,  1920: 

Especes  en  caisse .  145,734.66 

Fonds  en  Banque .  1,370,550.71 

Bons  de  la  Defense  Nationale .  250,000.00 


TOTAL 


FRANCS 


7,294,491.25 

75,000.00 


1,766,285.37 


9,135,776.62 


47 


SITUATION  DE  L’EXERCISE  1919-1920 
A  FIN  MARS  1920 


(SITUATION  DTNVENTAIRE) 


ACTIF 

FRANCS 

Banque  . 1,370,550.71 

Caisse  .  145,734.66 

Bons  de  la  Defense  Nationale . .  250,000.00 

Baraquements  .  592,088.00 

Installations  . '. .  174,340.48 

Propriete  de  Blerancourt .  37,912.00 

Agriculture:  Tracteurs  .  438,500.00 

Ferme  de  Blerancourt .  22,200.00 

Villeneuve  la  Huree .  293,740.00 

Frais  de  transports  de  semence  a  recuperer  . 5,501.00 

Semences  .  294,579.25 

Sacs  vides  .  9,893.00 

Automobile:  Vehicules  . 576,363.00 

Essences  . 250,000.00 

Atelier  de  construction . 243,320.35 

travaux  executes,  recettes  a  operer .  88,135.00 

Stock:  Magasins  des  centres . .% .  345,057.70 

Entrepot  de  Paris . 1,166,163.17 

Debiteurs  divers:  Dupre  70,000  Frs . ^  127  479  00 

Milhem  57,479  Frs . . . ( 


TOTAL . ,....  6,431,557.32 


PASSIF 

FRANCS 

Capital  (au  1°  Avril,  1920) .  5,703,079.92 

Avances  de  l’Etat . 175,000.00 

Donations  designees:  Child  Hygiene .  37,450.10 

Education  .  21,242.01 

Agriculture — Instruments  agr .  15,047.53 

Betail  . 73,183.27 

Volailles  *. .  118,923.05 

Ferme  . .  15,072.97 

Ouvroir  .  13,787.55 

Outils  . 8,968.80 

Propriete  de  Blerancourt  - .  52,088.00 

Hopital  de  Blerancourt .  8,338.29 

A.R.C .  93,576.35 

Cas  speciaux  . 95,799.48 


TOTAL . . .  6,431,557.32 

•48 


The  Chauncey  Hoi.t  Company 

New  York  City 


